


Vanilla Twilight

by Artfulstar



Series: Vanilla Twilight Universe [1]
Category: The Dragon Prince (Cartoon)
Genre: 2000-3000 words for chapter, Aged-Up Character(s), Complete, Everyone Is Alive, F/F, F/M, Just wait for it, M/M, Modern AU, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pining, Rayllum - Freeform, Slow Burn, a little bit of texting fic, blind date au, part of a series, sarai is best mom, so much pining, texting fic, theres an epilogue
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-19
Updated: 2020-05-09
Packaged: 2021-02-28 23:01:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 22
Words: 50,200
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23195182
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Artfulstar/pseuds/Artfulstar
Summary: “As many times as I blink, I’ll think of you tonight”Claudia is tired, Soren is exhausted. Their friends never shut up about work and how they wish something in their lives was different. At the start it was funny, now it’s just tiring and infuriating. Maybe, just maybe, if they meet up, they would see how tiring it is to have someone complain all the time about work. But when both siblings are late for the 4-person gathering, they receive a text“Did you set me up on a blind date?”A blind date AU mixed with an overused Modern AU and bits of Text fic
Relationships: Amaya/Janai (The Dragon Prince), Callum & Claudia (The Dragon Prince), Callum & Ezran (The Dragon Prince), Callum/Rayla (The Dragon Prince), Claudia & Rayla (The Dragon Prince), Claudia & Soren (The Dragon Prince), Ellis & Ezran (The Dragon Prince), Ethari/Runaan (The Dragon Prince), Harrow/Sarai (The Dragon Prince), Lain/Tiadrin (The Dragon Prince), Rayla & Soren (The Dragon Prince)
Series: Vanilla Twilight Universe [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1689622
Comments: 217
Kudos: 356





	1. The silence isn't so bad

**Author's Note:**

> I have no excuse for this. I was just so starstruck by seeing so many beautiful fanart of Modern AU for my children and after some discussion on a Rayllum discord server, I couldn't wait to write about it  
> Prepare yourself for some cute Rayllum shenanigans and much more 
> 
> Title and Chapters titles are taken from Owl City's "Vanilla Twilight"

**Chapter One - The silence isn't so bad**

Claudia is tired, to say the least. It started as a usual complaint about the monotone life in the work and how it was horrible to cope with the art block just as he entered the Art University, but now? Callum would complain to her all. The. Time.

Gather with Soren for a game night? He would complain about how he wished he had more time to play games as they all did before adulthood. Gather for some coffee before classes? He would complain about classes and his art block. It got tiring real quick.

“Callum, I will be clear with you” they’re both sitting in the University café “If you’re so dissatisfied with your work, just quit. It’s tearing me down just hearing about it” She slurps loudly her juice, her black nails tapping on the wooden table.

“It’s not that simple Claudia, more than half of my payment goes to pay my university. If I quit, I’ll have to ask my parents for money, and they will think I can’t live on my own and will me to come live with them” He says putting his chin in his hands and closing his eyes tightly “Also, I like my work, it’s the fact that I’ve been with a creative block for 2 months, 3 weeks and 2 days that stresses me.” He pulls his sketchbook off his bag and flips through dozens of pages with unfinished pieces and scribbles that don’t make sense. Claudia sighs and slurps loudly on her juice again.

“Have you tried something new to find inspiration?”

“No, Claudia. I’ve been sitting on my ass for the past almost 3 months waiting for God to strike me with inspiration.” he says in a flat but ironic tone. The woman raises her brow at his sarcasm “I tried so many things. I tried taking some piano classes to find inspiration on music, but I have no coordination on my fingers. I tried some yoga, but sitting around meditating is not my style. I tried to change the subject of my drawings and my style 4 times already, but nothing worked. At this rate, I’m almost giving up” he sighs and rests his forehead on the table, almost spilling his own drink on the table.

“Have you tried finding the inspiration on a person, then?”

“I tried that, but I think I’ve draw everyone I’m close with and nothing sparks.” His voice is muffled by the fact he is still with his head on the table, but Claudia can hear him

“Someone new, then?” she suggests and Callum finally raises his head to look at her

“You can’t expect me to just ask a stranger to be my _inspiration_. Do you even know me?” he rests his head on the table again. Claudia could only sigh

* * *

“Your mind was off the game, Rayla” Soren says as the girl goes out the gym with her sports bag on her shoulder

“Ya know exactly why, Soren.” She rolls her eyes with a sigh and slows down to face him.

“I’ve heard it all by now” he clears his throat and puts on his best Scottish accent “’Mah dads are too controllin’ of mah decisions, mah work as a night barista is an ass, I wish I had made differen’ decisions in mah life’” Rayla punches him in the arm, making him wince slightly.

“Don’t make fun of my struggles.”

“They’re not real struggles, y’know. If your dads are too controlling of your life, just talk with them. If your work at the bar isn’t good, just quit, there are plenty of jobs out there. And about the decisions in your life, you can’t really take those back.” He shrugged

“Ya know it’s not that easy, Soren. I just wish I had something new in my life. Every day feels so… boring.” She sighed deeply ran a hand through her white hair “But, let’s not talk about that. How about you get me that protein shake ya own me?”

“I thought you forgot about that.”

“I never forget my victories over ya.” She says punching his shoulder lightly and walking ahead.

* * *

“It’s infuriating, Soren. Callum spends all the time complaining. At the start it was fun, but now? Can someone just get him out of his art block!” Claudia sighed and sat cross-legged on the floor of her dorm.

“I bet is nothing compared to how Rayla complains all the time. Every break, she’s there muttering swear words under her breath and when she finds an opportunity, she will complain about her life to me or some of our teammates.”

“In my opinion, we have to do something. Make them realize that what they do is tiring as hell.” Claudia put her chin on her hand and closed her eyes, gathering her thoughts. Soren laid on the floor, trying to come up with something, but they always said that Claudia was the one who had the only brain cell of the two, so it didn’t do much.

Claudia’s eyes snapped open and she crawled near her brother with a big smile on her face. When he looked at her face, she only tapped her nose various times and Soren just nodded, somehow understanding what she meant. It was good to speak “Claudia”

* * *

_“Do you need anything?”_ Sarai’s voice was at the end of the line of the phone

“No mom, I’m good” Callum says tapping lightly his pencil on his desk. His laptop was open on the desk, his desktop neatly organized in a few folders and a family photo of last Christmas as the wallpaper. On his hand, a cup of coffee, on the other, his phone that was on his ear

_“Just know that me, Ezran and your dad miss you. You should definitely visit more.”_ His last visit had been for Christmas, over 3 months ago. Before his art block and the problems at his work started. He knew if he went home, he would end up spilling his concerns, only worrying his family. He didn’t want that. It was a miracle that Claudia hadn’t told them yet, considering how close she was to his family.

“I’ll try to visit this month. No promises though.” He says trying to hide his thoughts

_“If you don’t, I’ll personally go to your apartment to give you a proper hug”_ Sarai said and Callum subconsciously fidgets with the end of the scarf around his neck. It wasn’t the same thing as his mom’s hugs, but it was a good substitute when he was away from her. He smiled

“Love you, mom” Callum smiled

_“Love you too.”_ She hangs up the call. Callum sighed into his scarf and eyed his laptop. He dragged his mouse and clicked on one of the folders and dozens of files popped up. His desktop was just like him at the moment. Perfectly organized on the outside, deeply inefficient on the inside. He groaned. Closing his laptop in frustration, he went for his bed and laid, looking at the ceiling. The weight of his life slowly sinking in and crushing him. He tried to suppress the urge to let the tears flow, especially because in half an hour he would be leaving to go to classes. He took a deep breath and got up from the comfortable sheets of his bed.

He flicked the light of his bathroom on and sighed deeply as he faced his reflection on the mirror. It was good that his call with his mom was just a traditional phone call, she would have guessed something was up with him as soon as she saw the way his hair was tousled in different directions, the bags under his eyes were heavy and his green eyes had a tired feeling to them. He washed his face and tried to hide his frustration once again, grabbing a comb and finally tidying his hair.

When he was packing his bag with his laptop for the class, his phone turned on and a notification appeared on the screen. He grabbed the device and Claudia’s smiling face popped up as she sent him a text

_Claudia [12:03 pm] Callummmmm_

_Claudia [12:03 pm] me and Soren wanna meet up tonight at that café we talk about all the time_

_Claudia [12:03 pm] he’s also bringing one of his friends_

_Claudia [12:04 pm] wanna come?_

Callum unlocked his phone and visualized the messages. His thoughts raced to his plans. He wouldn’t work on Fridays, so no work today for him. He was going to use his time to try to break his art block. Before he could reply, Claudia sent him another string of texts

_Claudia [12:05 pm] if you use “break art block” card I will murder you in your sleep and use your hair to make a spell for my gothic cult_

Claudia never made empty threats. Callum gulped and sent his answer

_Callum [12:06 pm] I guess I can manage to meet with you guys_

_Callum [12:06 pm] Although, I want to know who’s this friend of Soren_

_Claudia [12:07 pm] she’s cool. I talked to her a few times. I think you guys have a lot in common c:_

Callum couldn’t say he was entirely comfortable with new people. Of course, as he got older his social skills got better than the ones he had when he was 14, but being socially awkward was on his DNA, somehow. He was compelled to deny, pull another card from his sleeve but he knew Claudia and Claudia knew him. She would pick up that he just didn’t want to meet new people. In the old day she would tease but respect his wishes, but now? She would drag him to every opportunity to meet new people, someone who would spark and break his art block. Of course, everyone who he met, either he failed to connect or they didn’t even try. He only sighed and sent his reply

_Callum [12:09 pm] Okay, it’s settled_

* * *

Rayla exited the girl’s locker room of the gym and went for the benches. She had her phone in her right hand. She was just talking with Ethari and Runaan. They confirmed they we’re going to the next game, which wasn’t a big surprise. They always showed up to all the games she was part of. Ethari always screaming her name whenever she scored and Runaan giving _“the glare”_ at everyone who booed his daughter when she missed the perfect opportunity, scaring but silencing anyone who felt his eyes piercing the back of their skull. At the start, it was reassuring, but now her dads just made her cringe internally. But she didn’t have the heart to tell them off. Not after all the sacrifices they did to raise her when her biological parents moved across the continent.

She groaned and tucked her phone inside her bag and proceeded to tie her moonlit hair in a tight ponytail as she walked towards her basketball team while they all did their respective stretchings and warm-ups.

When she felt her hair was tight enough, she eyed an empty spot and walked towards it.

Of course, her presence didn’t go unnoticed by Soren and he walked towards her

“Wanna hang out with me and my sister tonight?” he asked as Rayla started her own stretching exercises.

“Your sister?” Rayla knew Soren had a sister. She searches from the back of her mind and finally, she connects to the person to the image “Is she the tall goth girl who comes to every game?” she sat on the floor with her legs in front of her

“Yeah. We’re having dinner at this café we really like. She’s also bringing one of our oldest friends.”

“I mean, your sister seems cool and I guess if she is friends with someone else they must be cool too. Also, I needed something to do this night.” Effortlessly, she reached her toes with her hand and stayed in the position

“You’re not working, right?” he rotated his hips inwards and outwards

“Nope, I told my boss I needed a break. He said I’ll need to compensate, but I didn’t pay much more attention.” She released her toes and faced him “So yeah, count me in.”

* * *

“I can’t believe you didn’t refuel your car, Soren!” Claudia says as they enter the line to the gas station. There were 5 cars in front of them.

“I already said I am sorry, Claudia! Why didn’t you remember me in the first place? You’re the one who has the brain cell, remember?”

“The supposed brain cell was talking on the phone with dad so he would clear our schedules for the night. What were you doing, anyway? Oh yeah, flexing your muscles in the mirror.” She rolls her eyes. Soren tried to argue but he closed his mouth and gripped tightly on the wheel. He checked his phone and saw the traffic

“We’re going to be late by 30 minutes by this point.” He groaned and Claudia hit her forehead on the glass of the door. “At least there isn’t so much movement at this time in the café. They will find a table for sure.”

“That’s not what I’m worried about, Soren. I’m worried about Callum, being alone with a stranger. You know how socially awkward he is.” She had a concerned face while she gazed out the window and went for her phone on her satchel.

Unlocking the device, she saw some missing calls from Callum. All recent, from 4 minutes ago. She sighed and went for the messages, aiming to warn him about their delay, but she saw Callum started to type something as soon as she got online and she let him finish his text. It took a few seconds than usual and Claudia was mentally preparing herself for the worst. And then his text finally appeared.

_Callum [7:21 pm] Did you set me up on a blind date?_


	2. Pour me a heavy dose of atmosphere

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Omg, this fic is receiving way more attention and support than I thought it would???  
> Thank you guys so much for all the kudos, kind comments <33 they're really appreciated  
> No more chit-chat! Here's a brand new chapter <3

** Chapter Two - Pour me a heavy dose of atmosphere **

Callum closed the Uber door and watched the car drive off on to the next street. He opened the app and gave the woman who drove him a 5 stars review. To please Callum, drivers usually didn’t have to do much. They just needed to respect his silence and that he wasn’t the most sociable person. The driver only asked him how his day was going but when she saw the way he avoided eye contact as he answered with a short _good_ , she didn’t press the subject.

The café was more of a restaurant than a café. The dark wood was prominent and the main entrance had vines with a rainbow of different species of flowers that grew to the top. Part of the ceiling was made of glass and Callum could only wonder how beautiful the scenery would be at daylight. Turning his attention back to the main entrance, he noticed that there were bushes of blue roses that were only small buds that were going to blossom when spring hit its peak in a few weeks. Usually, spring would inspire Callum to make some art pieces, but this year would be different. He sighed and walked through the door.

He was running late and by what Soren said on the phone, his friend was already waiting for them. He and Claudia didn’t say much about her, just that she’s easily spotted in a crowd. That could help him.

He entered the café and the notes of the music playing in the speakers reached his ears. He couldn’t really pick up what was the music, but he was enjoying it anyway. The smell of coffee filled his nostrils and he made a mental checklist to get a cup when he left.

He eyed the tables for Soren or Claudia, but he didn’t see either of them. Instead, in a table on a hidden corner, he saw a girl of his age with white hair that was also looking around the place. Eventually, her eyes locked on him and he noticed the light and unusual violet shade of her eyes. She raised a brow at him and he avoided her gaze, fidgeting with his scarf subconsciously. He looked around. No one really stood out as she did.

He looked at her again and her hand was supporting her head while her elbow was on the table and her eyes were glued to the screen of her phone. His legs finally started working again and he walked towards the table.

“Um…” he said, claiming the attention of the woman “Are you Soren’s friend?” the girl placed her phone on the table and giving him a simple nod.

“Ya are Claudia’s friend, then?” she asked and he also simply nodded, but he couldn’t help but notice her accent. He didn’t meet many people from different countries so it was a different experience. He cleared his throat and stood awkwardly. She once again raised a brow at him and he finally noticed that he was staring at her. She signaled her head to the chair in the chair in front of her. He blushed considerably and pulled the chair across from her and sat. she came back to her phone, tapping her nails on the table and Callum became extremely stiff.

“What’s your name?” She asked not drifting her eyes from the screen

“Callum!” he said, his voice much louder and high pitched than he wanted. He could faintly see the corners of her lips curling slightly, but she didn’t laugh. “W-What’s yours?”

“Rayla.” She said finally looking at him for a moment, before drifting off again to the screen. Callum felt somehow relieved and his face finally seemed to cool down.

The waitress approached them with 2 menus and took out her small notepad and pen.

“What will the young couple wish tonight?” Callum and Rayla snapped their head from the menu and looked skeptically at her

“We’re not on a date. We’re waiting for our friends.” Rayla simply said and Callum nodded.

“Oh, so sorry.” She apologized “Didn’t want to assume.”

“But ya did.” Rayla said coldly, her eyes scanning the menu “I’ll want the medium frapé and a piece of the moonberry surprise.” She closed the menu and gave it to the woman.

“And you, young man?” The waitress asked

“I think I’ll have the portion of cinnamon rolls and a medium cappuccino, please.” He handed the menu to the woman as soon as she ended up writing the orders down.

“Alright, I’ll be back.” She walked away

Callum took his phone out of his coat pocket and looked at the time. 7:15 PM. Where were Soren and Claudia? No new messages nor phone calls. He clicked on Claudia’s contact photo and got up

“Excuse me, I have to go to the bathroom.” He walked away and followed the signs to the men’s restroom. But didn’t actually enter. He stayed outside the door and clicked on the “Call" button under Claudia’s photo. He waited…

 _“Hi, this is Clauds, I’m not available right now, so you can like, leave a message after the beep. BEEP!”_ she didn’t pick up. He tried it again but no use, it went straight to voicemail. He groaned and stuffed his phone in his pocket. This night couldn’t get worse. He was stuck sitting with a complete stranger he didn’t know anything about besides her name.

He walked back to the table and saw the same waitress with a tray with their orders. He walked over and helped the woman with setting the plates down. She gave him a quick thank you and went back to work. This time when he sat, Rayla was the one who was staring at him. Did he have something on his face?

“Do ya think” she started “Soren and Claudia are pranking us?” she popped a small piece of her moonberry surprise in her mouth and Callum widened his eyes. He didn’t see what she meant by that.

“No? Claudia never really pranked me when we were growing up and Soren stopped that years ago.” He took a bite of one of his cinnamon rolls.

“Well, I don’t know Claudia enough but Soren could definitely be using ya to prank me, without ya knowing it.” She took a sip of her frapé and her eyes widened as if something had finally connected in her brain “Did… Did they set us on a blind date?” She asked, incredulously. Callum felt a wave of heat hit his face like a punch and he suppressed the urge to laugh nervously, instead, he took a sip of his drink, his own eyes widened at the idea of having a blind date without his consent.

Claudia _did_ comment a week or so ago how Callum hadn’t been in a romantic relationship since high school and yesterday she commented on him finding someone new to inspire him. It didn’t seem far off.

“Actually, it kinda makes sense, considering some conversations I had with Claudia…” he trailed off and Rayla only groaned and grabbed her phone angrily, probably text Soren and ask him for an explanation. He grabbed his own phone and he went for the contact of Claudia but when the status changed to “online”, he went for a quicker approach. He started typing but took a few more seconds to write it because he still didn’t want to accuse his best friend. He sent the text

_Callum [7:21 pm] Did you set me up on a blind date?_

Claudia immediately started typing

_Claudia [7:22 pm] hmm no??????_

_Claudia [7:22 pm] wtf callum_

_Callum [7:23 pm] Just the fact that I never met this girl, we’re sitting in a café alone and you suggested I find a new “muse” yesterday makes me think that_

_Claudia [7:24 pm] we’re just running late, we’ll be there in 10 minutes at most_

_Claudia [7:24 pm] also can you ask Rayla to lay off the swear words she’s texting Soren? even he’s getting impressed by the amount of them_

Callum looked up to see Rayla furiously texting Soren, her brows furrowed in anger.

“Rayla, Soren’s asking me for you to stop with the swearing. He’s getting scared.”

“Well, he deserves it!” her mouth now had an angry pout and she continued to type. He could faintly see that every single word was in upper case, but he couldn’t exactly make out the exact words she was sending him.

After a minute she seemed to settle down and took a deep breath.

“Since we are kinda stuck here until those dinguses arrive, what do ya do?” she asked bitting on another piece of the surprise

“In what sense?”

“Do ya study? Do ya work?”

“Oh, I study History of Arts with a minor in Design in the Xadia University. I also do an internship as a graphic designer for Lux Aurea” he says, not trying to sound too cocky, after all, it was a big company

“You mean that clothing and jewelry brand?” she asks genuinely

“Yeah!” he nodded “So, do you study or work?”

“Aye. I’m majoring in forensic science with a minor in Law Enforcement, also at Xadia University and I have a job as a night barista, but recently my main focus has been the basketball team of the Univerisity.”

“How come we never crossed paths since we study on the same university?” he asked munching on another roll

“The forensic and law enforcement classes are on the eastern buildings and I believe the Art History and Design are on the western side of it, right?” he nodded and kinda felt embarrassed he forgot about that. “Also, ya don’t seem the type to go to basketball games or training, so ya never saw me playing.” She smirked at him. She was really good at reading people, no wonder she was studying to be an officer. He only smiled back at her bashfully, basking in the almost normal conversation they were having

“WE’RE HERE!” Callum and Rayla’s eyes snapped at the direction of Claudia’s voice as she and Soren rushed across the café to them. “We thought we could make it in 10 minutes, but there was a traffic accident and we took a longer route that took 20 minutes.” Callum looked at the clock in the wall and they were right. They would have supposedly arrived at 7:30, but now it was past that, 7:43 to be more precise and just then they arrived. The most impressive thing, Callum didn’t notice the time pass. His conversation with Rayla was going rather smoothly. Claudia was right. They did have a lot in common. Claudia and Soren took the other two seats in the table.

“I’m starving! How come you two’s food is already gone?” Soren groaned

“If ya didn’t forget to fuel your car, ya would have arrived sooner and have ordered with us.” Rayla rolled her eyes at him

“Claudia should’ve reminded me. She’s the one with the brain cell!”

“The brain cell was working, Soren!” Claudia’s face made a similar act as Rayla’s did, but unlike Rayla, Callum knew that Claudia didn’t really mean any harm. Weirdly enough, he was curious to know Rayla enough so he could tell when she really meant mean things or not.

“So, how was the blind date going before we arrived?” Soren teased, Callum felt the need to sunk into his chair. Rayla punched him in the arm, actually making him flinch. No one ever made Soren flinch in pain.

“Ya better shut before I really use my full strength on ya.” Soren nodded sharply at her. Callum was just glad the incident wasn’t brought up again.

* * *

The night ended in good terms. Soren and Claudia promised Rayla a ride home to her dorm. They also wanted to give Callum one, but he lived far away from each of them, so he decided to call an Uber instead.

Soren went ahead to get his car, so Claudia and Rayla were waiting for him. Callum was also with them, one hand in his coat pocket, the other on his phone seeing the Uber approach. When the car finally parked in front of the pub, Claudia and Callum shared a big hug. It was then he noticed Rayla was just standing there, awkwardly. He turned to her. The only lights on the spot they were standing were the ones from the café behind her, that were being dimmed due to their closing time and the one from the waxing crescent moon on the sky. Callum couldn’t help but notice that Rayla’s hair kinda sparkled when the moon hit it. Kinda like a halo. Very poetic and inspiring. He cleared his throat.

“It was nice meeting you Rayla. Maybe we all can hang out more often.” He said bashfully

“Sure! I would like that.” She smiled at him, not a smirk, but a true smile. There were no teeth shown, but it was a real smile. “It was nice meeting ya too, Callum.” Her violet eyes softened.

The Uber honked and he was brought down to reality. He waved goodbye with his hand and entered the car.

The ride to his apartment was silent. On one hand, he was glad about that, but on the other, he really wanted to put his thought in the evening to someone. It was certainly not what he expected, but it ended up being a good thing. Maybe it was too soon to consider Rayla his friend, but deep inside he wanted that. It has been too long since he had a real friend

Entering his studio apartment, he hanged the coat and scarf and took off his shoes. He quickly changed to his pajamas and put his phone in the charger.

He finally took a look at the things on his desk. Books from University, his laptop, a mug with some old coffee stains, but most importantly, his sketchbook. He wasn’t carrying it everywhere besides classes like he used to, but when he noticed the moonlight from the window above the desk shining down the leather cover and golden details, he felt a strong urge to draw. Shaking his head, he dismissed the thought. It was very late. He could do that in the morning.


	3. I'll think of you tonight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a small note: Janai and Khessa’s last name in this universe is Akosua, which means “girl born in a Sunday” in Akan, which is an indigenous language for the Ghanan people and the people on the Ivory Coast.

** Chapter Three - I'll think of you tonight **

Callum’s eyes snapped open as the sound of his ringtone woke him up. Still blurry-eyed and rather tired, his hands reached for his phone in the nightstand by his bed. His fingers automatically twitched to the snooze button, but it wasn’t there. He rubbed the sleep of his eyes and sat on his bed. There wasn’t an alarm, but Ezran’s big smile was on the screen. He was calling him. Callum looked at the time. It was past 11 am, but he wasn’t supposed to go to classes or work, what was Ezran doing calling him? He clicked the accept call button.

“Hey Ez.” He greeted before sleep took his body again and he yawed.

 _“Callum!”_ Ez’s happy and almost squeaky voice threw Callum off guard. His brother had just turned 14 a week ago. His voice was much deeper than it used to be, due puberty, but when he got really excited, his voice would go to a squeak of a 10-year-old. _“I’m here!”_

“Here? Here _where?_ ”

 _“At your University!”_ he stated with a smile on his voice

“WHAT?” Callum screamed on the phone, his body now fully awake. “W-With who?”

_“Aunt Amaya! She said that she was coming here to see her new girlfriend and asked if I wanted to come too and see you!”_

“I didn’t know Aunt Amaya was dating someone” Callum said, stretching his arm above his head.

 _“It’s a new thing. She usually drives to see Aunt Amaya, but I think this is the first time she’s driving to see her.”_ Callum got up from his bed and walked to the bathroom while putting the call on the speaker. _“You wanna hang with us? Aunt Amaya and her girlfriend are taking us to the mall to buy my birthday gift.”_

Callum almost winced and turned off the faucet after washing his face when he heard about his little brother’s birthday. He felt really bad that he didn’t get a day off work to see his brother on his special day, Callum also swore that he would make up to that. Maybe a day spent with his brother could be the reparation that was needed.

“Sure, I can go hang out with you three.”

 _“Awesome!”_ Ezran’s voice got a little far away but Callum could still hear it _“Aunt Amaya! Callum agreed to hang out with us!”_ Callum grabbed his toothbrush and started to brush his teeth as Ezran talked with Aunt Amaya on the other side of the line. Finally, after some moments, Ezran’s voice was back completely to the call _“Aunt Amaya and I are going to get her girlfriend now. She’s asking if you need for us to get you at your apartment.”_

“Yeah, that can be good. Thank her for me, okay?”

_“Alright, when we get near your place, I’ll text you. See you soon!”_

“Bye, Ez!” his brother ended the call and Callum rushed to his fridge to grab something to eat. His stomach wasn’t as empty as he thought it would be since he ate a lot last night, but like always, he grabbed himself a bowl of cereal and some milk. It was almost noon but he didn’t care, he needed his breakfast or else Aunt Amaya would force him to have one. He quickly finished it and took a shower. He chooses a plain burgundy shirt that matched his own scarf, some jeans and of course, his classic blue coat. As he prepared his own bag, he eyed the sketchbook that was still laying in his desk. the last thing he saw last night before falling asleep was his sketchbook and how when it was bathed in the moonlight, it gave him the urge to draw. Suddenly something clicked on his mind. It was the first time in almost 3 months that he felt a natural surge to draw. Last night, he was too tired too even process, but now, it was like the whole world opened before him. He grabbed his sketchbook with an almost ethereal look in his face. He felt the tears almost falling. Somehow, his art block was starting to break. It was something he tried for so long. With an almost joyful squeal, he put the sketchbook in his bag, together with his pencil and eraser, on the front pocket.

His phone chimed with a new text notification from Ez. He picked up the device and unlocked it as he slung his bag over his shoulder, letting it rest on the opposite hip.

_Ezran [11:48 am] We’re here!_

Since his apartment was on the 4th floor, Callum took the stairs, taking only a minute or less to reach the lobby of the building. He saw his Aunt’s car parked outside the building, he could see Ezran on the back passenger waving his hand as soon as he saw Callum through the glass door that separated the building to the street. He waved back at him with a smile.

He opened the glass door and when he was finally in front of the back passenger door, he pulled it open. Ezran immediately gave him a hug, which he responded.

“Callum, meet Aunt Amaya’s girlfriend, Janai!” Callum froze and slowly looked at the woman that sat on the passenger's seat next to his aunt.

“I knew I recognized your last name, Amaya.” She said chuckling. And Amaya looked at her confused “It’s nice to see you out of work Callum.”

“You two know each other?” Ezran asked, confused as his aunt.

“Ms. Akosua is the Chief Operating Officer at Lux Aurea, the place I work” Callum explained when Amaya turned around to look at him and read his lips. As soon she processed the words, she only nodded and got her eyes on the road once again, but not before looking at her nephews and signing.

 _“Seatbelt you two.”_ Janai translated for them almost the instant Amaya’s hands started signing. He never would have guessed that his boss knew sign language. He did know that Kazi, the Chief Communications Officer, graduated at Xadia’s in Linguistics at the top of their class, which included sign language, but Ms. Akosua? Never.

Callum obeyed his aunt’s wishes and put the seatbelt, while Ezran put his own, which he probably took off when he moved to the window to greet Callum. He looked at his brother once again and gave him another hug, which he was surprised, but corresponded.

* * *

“Can we go to the pet store? I need to buy Bait toys!” Ezran chirped as they entered the mall doors. Amaya chuckled at her nephew and Janai smiled at the boy.

“Is that the birthday gift you want?” Janai asked amused “Seems more like a gift for your toad.”

“Well, Bait _is_ really important to me. He’s been with me since I was in diapers and before that, he was my dad’s toad.”

“Wait, then how old is he?” Janai asked, her orange eyes widening slightly

“No one really knows” Ezran said a serious face and Amaya only laughed before putting her arm around Janai’s waist and bringing her closer.

They all walked around the corridors, Ez stopped at a pet store and Amaya brought him, or rather, Bait a new toy.

When they started walking again, Amaya stopped when they passed by a sportswear store. Janai, who was holding her hand, looked at her

“What is it?” She asked. Amaya let go of Janai’s hand and started signing _“Your birthday is coming. I’m going to buy your gift.”_ Janai’s eyes widened as she translated “Maya, it’s no need.” Amaya shook her head and grabbed Janai’s hand and pulled her into the store. Janai rolled her eyes and turned her head at the two boys “You two stay here. We’re not going to take long.” Callum and Ezran sat on the wooden bench. Callum pulled his sketchbook out and tried to brainstorm something.

“Callum… Can I go to the bathroom?” Ezran asked, pulling the sleeve of his coat lightly.

“Ez, you’re not 5 anymore.” Callum rolled his eyes playfully at his brother “You can go alone to the bathroom.”

“Okay, if Aunt Amaya comes back, tell her” He jumped from the spot by his side and walked in the direction of the restroom.

Callum turned his attention back to the page of his sketchbook. He tapped his pencil against the page and he started sketching a humanoid head and torso. Before he could even start doing the details someone spoke up.

“Nice drawing.” Callum’s eyes widened and he looked into the direction of the voice. He was greeted by violet eyes and a smirk. _Rayla._

He scrambled to close his sketchbook, letting the pencil fall into the ground.

“H-Hey Rayla!” he said trying to sound cool, but by the snort, she let out, he had failed. She leaned down to grab the pencil and handed it to him. “What are you doing here?”

“This is a mall, Callum.” She said, playfully rolling her eyes at him.

“Oh, right.” He rubbed the back of his neck, minding the pencil still in his fingers. She sat beside him

“Why did ya hide that drawing? I wasn’t kidding when I said it looked nice.”

“Well, I don’t usually show my drawings to people who I’ve just met-“ he stopped and looked at her, with fear he had offended her, but she seemed to be doing okay “A-And that was my first drawing since I broke my art block last night. It’s not going to be good.” He said bashfully.

“I’m not really an artist, but I get it. Not going to force ya to show me.” Callum released a breath he didn’t realize he was holding and smiled at her. She decided to change the subject “Are ya here alone?”

“No. My Aunt and her girlfriend are in this store” he pointed to the sportswear store in front of them “And my little brother is in the bathroom.”

“Family trip, huh?” she smirked at him

“Kinda” he responded. He then noticed the shopping bag she was carrying “What were you shopping?”

“Oh. I needed a new pair of sneakers. We have the first game of the season on Monday and the coach asked me to buy new ones since the ones I use all the time are very worn out.” She showed him the sneakers she was wearing. They were green and black and yes, they were worn out, but still seemed good to use. Just then he took notice of what she was wearing. It couldn’t be more casual. She was wearing black leggings that stopped in the middle of her calf and a violet hoddie almost of the same shade of her eyes. Her white hair was pulled back into a low ponytail. Before he could dwell more, Ezran’s voice alerted him

“Who’s that, Callum?” he looked at him and he had a knowing smile on his face, besides a quirked brow. Callum then realized that he and Rayla were rather close and he was eyeing him her bottom to the top. He stammered and quickly jolted out of his seat.

“Ez, this is Rayla!” Rayla waved at his brother lightly. “Rayla, this is my little brother, Ezran.” She almost snorted

“Not so little, huh.” She joked. It was true. Ezran 4 years ago was so small and when he finally hit puberty 2 years ago, he was almost Callum’s height, despite a 5-year difference.

“Well, my mom and dad are very tall, it’s obvious that I’m going to end up taller than him” he joked and Rayla put her hand behind her mouth to contain a burst of laughter. The muffled sound caught Callum’s attention and his eyes widened slightly. It was a very cute laugh, even when it was interrupted by her own party. He would never have guessed that one of Soren’s friends from a basketball team would have a cute laugh.

“Well, I beat both of ya” She stood up and Callum noticed that Rayla was slightly taller than him, by an inch or two. It wasn’t noticeable when they were both sitting like they did most of the time last night. They all laughed a little at her antics. “Anyway, I better get going. I need to get to my dorm. It was nice seeing you again, Callum.” She smiled at him and picked up her bag from the floor and went on her way.

“You didn’t answer my question, Callum.” Ezran said as they looked in the way Rayla went.

“Huh?”

“Who’s that?” he quirked his brow and a smirk appeared on his face.

“I already told you. It’s Rayla.” Callum said, sitting on the bench once again

“I know that now. I want to know who’s Rayla in your life.” His smirk only grew when he sat beside his brother. Was Ezran thinking what Callum thought he was thinking?

“I have know Rayla for less than a day. Don’t start with anything.” Callum scoffed, trying to cool down the heat on his face.

“You two seem rather close to two people who only met yesterday.” Ezran leaned back. Callum flushed deeper and the heat spread to his neck

“Rayla is not my girlfriend!” Callum said to Ezran, loud enough to only his brother to hear.

 _“What about this girlfriend?”_ Janai said as she translated what Amaya was signing. Callum silently cursed himself as he saw Aunt Amaya’s brow quirked, with a confused but amused smile on her features. He could be as quiet as he could but having an aunt that could read lips left all his efforts into the trash. _“Care to elaborate on that, Callum?”_ Janai translated, even though Callum already understood what his aunt was saying by the way he sighed in defeat.

* * *

Callum closed the door of his apartment with a sigh and took off his sneakers. Callum never thought a ride home could as awkward as that one. Amaya insisted on Janai taking the wheel at least for the time they were going to Callum’s apartment. The ride home was full of questions about his supposed girlfriend, and Amaya even teased him more about him when he corrected her when she was signing Rayla’s name.

_“She’s not your girlfriend but you care enough for me to sign her name properly?”_

He was just glad it was over. He didn’t even bother to take off his coat when entering the apartment. He only took his sketchbook and pencil out of his bag and sat on his bed, the items on his lap. He opened the page with the sketch he was doing before Rayla arrived and started giving more details while thinking about his afternoon. It was nice hanging out with Ezran and even though his aunt mortified him, seeing her so happy with her new girlfriend, made Callum’s heart full.

He also thought about Rayla and how nice it was to see her. Of course, after meeting through such an awkward situation of an accidental blind date, he could see that Rayla was really nice. Quite the opposite of the trope he had for any of Soren’s teammates. He always thought of them as big, buff guys who would spend their entire days at the gym and would definitely make fun of him when they saw how scrawny his body was. But Rayla? She was nice. She dedicated her life to her studies but she also cared a lot about her team and her friends. She didn’t laugh at him, but rather with him. His thoughts drifted to the shy way she hid her laugh with her hand. He should bring Ez more around her if it would mean he would make her laugh.

His mind snapped when his thoughts cleared and he looked at the page. The messy humanoid torso and head now took the form of Rayla in her violet hoddie and ponytail. A small smile on her face and a glint in her violet eyes. Even though this was supposed to be his first piece of art after an almost 3-month block, it was perfectly cleaned and with no anatomy errors. He closed the sketchbook with a sigh.

_What was happening to him?_


	4. I'll watch the night turn light blue

** Chapter Four - I'll watch the night turn light blue **

“NYX I SWEAR IF YA LET YOUR CAT INTO MY ROOM AGAIN, **YOU’LL SEE MY RAGE!** ” Rayla screams into the corridor as soon as her roommate left her room with her quiet, but awfully hairy cat named Ambler. Nyx didn’t pay attention to Rayla as she strolled down the hall, into her own room. Rayla only sighed and looked at her bedroom, orange cat hair was lying on her bed.

This was not the first time Ambler had snuck in her bedroom through her window while she was training and of course, the day Rayla decided to stay more time to practice for tomorrow’s game, Ambler entered her room, leaving fur all over her bed. It was time for cleaning duty.

After half an hour of putting cat hair out of her bed, Rayla only sighed as she discarded the bag of hair into the trash. She finally laid on her bed for five minutes, her eyes almost closing after all the work she did, only to be startled by her alarm.

Right. Work would start in an hour. She groaned loudly.

* * *

“Thank god you’re here, Rayla!” Nalaea said as soon as Rayla entered the breakroom of the pub they both worked. “I’m running late for my date.” It was clear to Rayla that her coworker had put a bit of more effort into going to work as if she knew she wasn’t going to be able to go back home to get ready. Her short bob had slight curls, her small and thin lips had a deep red lipstick on them and her pale blue eyes were accentuated by a black eyeshadow.

She gave Rayla a quick hug, before dashing out the door, leaving her alone to finally start her shift.

Rayla washed her hands and tied her hair into a high ponytail, she shook her head to feel if it was tight enough. She breathed in and out a couple of times, putting on her “work” smile and dashed it out to stand near the cash register.

She saw a couple of people coming in, but not directly going to her to ask for an order to go and sitting on the tables, she started to get bored. It was a rule that no phones were allowed at work and after getting warned so many times by her boss, she always left her phone at her satchel in the breakroom when she arrived to prevent those accidents. But having no phone, meant that she would die of boredom if she didn’t find something that her mind could drift off to. She looked at the time on the clock on the wall. 6:40 PM. She had 20 minutes before the rush hour started. 20 minutes of boredom.

She decided to focus on the music that was playing on the speakers scattered across the place. It seemed it was one from Ariana Grande, but she wasn’t the biggest fan so she couldn’t say which song was. She quickly picked up the melody and started humming it while grabbing cleaning supplies and cleaning the counter, which was already cleaned. She just needed something to pass her time.

One of the motives she hated her work.

She was just bored all the way from the first step she took next to the cash register to the moment she took her satchel in the breakroom.

The small sound the bell made above the door alerted her and she eyed the door. Her heart flew all the way to her throat and her eyes widened.

Callum was standing there, his face glued to the same sketchbook he was carrying it yesterday. She couldn’t help but think he was stressed about something. The way his brows were almost glued together as he looked deep into the page. She had an urge to get out of her spot and go ask if he was okay, but before she could do that, he looked up and their eyes met.

She froze completely. She noticed how his stressed face dissipated and turned into a small smile on his lips as he closed the sketchbook in his hands. _Was he happy to see her? Was he here to talk to her? Why was she getting so worked up about that?_

“Hey, Rayla!” Callum said and got near the counter.

“Hello. What can I help ya with?” She says, her fake smile due to the ambiance they were straining a little when he raised his brow at her.

“You okay? You look like you’re gonna throw up.” He said with a concerned face

“I’m good.” She said and Callum didn’t seem to believe her.

“Alright… Well, I didn’t exactly come here for the food.” Her eyes widened as she eyed the way he started to fidget with the end of his scarf and gripping tightly at his sketchbook.

“Then, why are ya here? If ya here for the silence and peace, you have 20 minutes before the rush hour starts and all the peace is gone.” She crosses her arm and smirks at him. Her boss would kill her if she saw her being so cocky with a costumer. Well, Callum wasn’t really a costumer since he wasn’t here for anything, but still.

“Well, not for that. I have peace at my apartment.”

“Oh, so ya’re here to flex on me?” She faked an annoyed pout “Just so you know Callum, many of us can’t afford an entire apartment.” She hoped that he identified that she was kidding but by the way he avoided her gaze, she dropped the façade “Hey” she grabbed his shoulders lightly “I was kidding” When he still avoided her gaze, she gripped his shoulders a little more tightly “Don’t be like that, sad prince.” The nickname escaped her lips before she could stop it. _Where did that come from?_ His head snapped to look at her.

“Why am I a prince?” he simply asked her.

_Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck_

“I don’t know.” She said shrugging her shoulders, trying to hide her embarrassment. “It was just a joke though. Don’t read much into it” she smirked at him and he returned the smile

“Well, I kinda liked.” He admits “My mom used to call me _Little Prince_ because I really liked the book ‘The Little Prince’ when I was a kid.”He said almost with a loving sigh, probably at the memory od good moments with his family “Of course, after Ezran was born, he became _Little Prince Jr._ ” Rayla couldn’t contain it. She laughed, but since her hands were still on Callum’s arms, she didn’t have her hands to suppress it, so she tried to stop it before it became a burst of full-blown laughter that would attract the attention of other costumers.

“Sorry. I forgot my hands were occupied.” She released his shoulders

“I like your laugh.” He said as if it was nothing. She was sure she was blushing furiously at him by the way she felt her entire face and neck heat up. He was too red, so it was kinda comforting to know she wasn’t the only one who thought that sentence was kind of awkward.

She cleared her throat

“Well, thank ya.” She felt her face cool down. “If ya are not here for the food nor peace, what are ya here for?”

“You.” He said almost instantly. Well, too bad for her body temperature because she was sure her entire body was red and heated.

“W-What?!” she saw the way his eyes almost jumped out of his skull

“ _Shit_ , I should have phrased that better… I’m not here for you, I just needed to see you- wait, no-” she let his voice fade away in her ears as her mind raced a mile per hour.

Her brain was circuiting like it would when she was focused in the game, but right now the way her brain was almost frying and the high temperature of her body were the only things that a game of basketball and this situation had in common.

“…I just need you to see something!” his voice finally came back to her ears. He was flipping through his sketch on the counter, page after page full of designs and incredible drawings of people like Soren, Claudia, his brother, some woman, that she could only assume by the way he drew her smiling it was Callum’s mother. There were landscapes of some places that looked more like photos than drawings. _He must spend many hours staring at it to look so perfect._

He also flipped pages that were filled with incomplete drawings, sometimes unfinished sketches, other times only scribbles that she couldn’t really make out what they were supposed to be.

After what seemed like an eternity, he finally found what he was looking for.

“Look at this.” He turned it, so it was facing her. It took some seconds to not only Rayla realize that it was the sketch he was doing yesterday at the mall, but also it was her that he drew. Everything looked exactly like how she was dressed before she left for the mall, even the little braid on the side of her head he had put an effort to put it in.

“This is me?” she asked stupidly “It looks so perfect. Ya even got the small braid my hair!”

“It actually took me a while to even notice I put it in.” he scratched his nape with an awkward smile. Her face was probably pure confusion. “I have a photographic memory.” He said in an awkward tone before he drew in a deep breath and continued “The last three months have been torture for me. I was in a never-ending art block. My work performance was slowly decaying and my boss said if I didn’t have a new idea soon I would be fired.” _So that explained all the unfinished drawings_

“Then something happened on Friday. I don’t know if it was the fact that I finally took a break from trying to destroy my art block, but last night, I tried talking to Claudia about it and she said it had something to do with you” her eyebrows shot up “I still don’t know what she meant by that, but I think in some ways she is right, because…” he flipped into the next page. Her breath got caught in her throat. The next page was full of sketches of her with various expressions, including her casual smirk, a frown, and her laughing. “Rayla, this is going to sound weird but I need to ask so I don’t feel guilty and I finally know what to do next.” He took a deep breath as he gazed into her eyes, her hands still on the page. “Rayla, am I allowed to draw you?”

The time seemed to stop. Was it weird for him to draw her? She felt really flattered that she somehow was the person who broke his art block. But were they friends yet? What if it gets tiring to draw her?

Dozens of “what ifs” passed through her mind as she took a deep breath.

“Sure.” She let out, her voice somehow wasn’t a squeak. “Not sure if I’ll be interesting enough to be your main subject for long, but I promise I won't make it weird.” She put a lock of hair behind her ear, trying to pass off as if she wasn’t flattered but embarrassed at the same time “I also really liked the drawings. If ya don’t feel uncomfortable, maybe ya can show me when ya have time?” she saw the way his eyes lit up

“Of course! It’s the least I can do.” Rayla closed his sketchbook and handed it to him with a smile, which he returned. “I guess the least I can do is order something since I robbed your time at work.”

“No one really comes here at this time anyway and I always get bored at work, so I should be thanking ya.” She said turning around to the coffee machine “But if I refuse to work, I’ll be fired, so what do you want?” she leaned her back on the counter and gave him a cheeky grin, very different from the forced smile she always has at the workplace.

“An expresso to go, please.” He said and she nodded, turning around to make his order. She quickly put the liquid inside the cup and took the black marker and wrote down his “name”

“Here is your order, Mr. Camel.” she winked at him and he looked at the name in the cup, before he rolled his eyes at her.

“I hate you. You don’t deserve to see my drawings anymore.” He faked annoyance and she laughed at him. Her hand reached up to cover her mouth, but he grabbed it “Don’t do that.”

“Sorry.” She said bashfully. He grabbed his cup after paying it and put his sketchbook in his satchel. He grabbed the handle and looked at her with another smile

“Goodnight, Rayla!” he said before dashing out the door. She sighed, her face pleasantly warm.

“Goodnight, sad prince” She said even though he wasn't even there anymore.

She could get used to this kind of friendship with him


	5. I'll miss your arms around me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't know shit about basketball, I have scrawny arms that can throw a ball at 5 meters at most, so all the information here was based off searching. If you do know about basketball, please feel free to correct me <3
> 
> Also: I finally settled this fic to have 21 chapters, plus an epilogue. I don't think that will change, but we'll see

** Chapter Five - I'll miss your arms around me **

Rayla closed the locker room door, her phone in her hand as she received a call from Ethari. All her teammates were inside, goofing off like they always did before any game. She was still on her casual clothes that she was using for her class before arriving. Some people had already started to crowd the place. People from her university and a smaller one from all the way across the state she didn’t quite remember the name. Even though it was the first game, Rayla and her teammates heard that the team was really good and they shouldn’t doubt them in any way

Her cellphone kept ringing until she found a silent corner and finally clicked the accept button

 _“Rayla!”_ Ethari said on the other end of the line. A smile appeared on Rayla’s face

“Hey, Ethari.” She said “Are ya guys comin’?”

 _“Of course! We promised ya.”_ Ethari answered _“Runaan and I are goin’ to be there to cheer ya on all the way through!”_ Rayla sighed. She couldn’t pinpoint if it was from relief or she was already thinking on the way they both would scare the crowd. _“I think in half an hour we can get to the game.”_ There was some mumbling from someone else on the other side, Runaan probably _“Ok, 40 minutes. It seems like there’s been a traffic incident on the road and we’re takin’ the longer route to avoid all the fuss.”_

“40 minutes? But the game will have started by then…” Rayla sighed. She always liked to receive a hug from Ethari and Runaan before a game even if it meant that 5 minutes later, she would hear Ethari’s voice screaming her name to give her confidence, making her cringe instead

 _“I know… Maybe we can give ya the hug after the first half of the game?”_ She could hear the almost comforting tone in his voice

“Alright. I’ll be waitin’ for it.” She smirked, but it quickly faded when she smiled softly “I love you two”

 _“We love you too. See you soon.”_ The call ended and Rayla released a breath she didn’t realize she was holding. She could hear some people outside the hallway talking about how excited they were about the game. She wouldn’t let them down

Turning on her heel, she headed for the locker room. She should probably get into her uniform now. The game would begin in half an hour and the coach would do their usual pep talk before they headed off the locker room for the game

Opening the locker room, she saw that everyone was already on their uniforms, others even going as far as doing some last-minute stretches

Opening her locker, she grabbed her jersey and dashed into one of the changing rooms, stepping out just 2 minutes after with her casual clothes folded and being put inside her bag. Grabbing one of her hair ties, she tied her hair into the tightest ponytail she could

A few minutes after, the coach entered the locker room. After some pep talk and reinforcing to not underestimate their adversaries, he revealed the team who would enter the game right away

“Soren, as usual, will be our point guard,” Rayla rolled her eyes at Soren and his stupid smug smile. He was always the point guard. And Rayla was on the team for more than a year. “Fylson, you will be our shooting guard and aid Soren if he needs” She looked at the man beside her. Even though he was rather new on the team, he was a skilled player and quickly earned a spot on their immediate team for every game “Arel and Lyra, I’ll be switching your positions for this game, just to see how you guys do. Arel, you’ll be our small forward and Lyra you’ll be the shooting guard.” The two nodded to their coach and to each other. “Rayla, as usual, you’ll be our center.” She smiled. It was expected. “The rest,” he eyed the other seven that were standing in the sidelines “if we need to make a substitution, I will communicate to each their positions.” He explained. “Let’s go out there and win this game!” Everyone cheered

* * *

Rayla eyed the crowd as soon as they got out of the lockers. The game would start in ten minutes and about 70% of the seats were already taken by someone. She just hoped that in the time it took for Runaan and Ethari to arrive, all the seats wouldn’t be taken. She sighed deeply

“Hey, Rayla,” Soren said as they walked down to the court “wanna go fill our bottles before the game starts?”

“I filled my bottle before handin’ it in, Soren.” she said confused and eyeing their coach who was carrying the cooler with all their bottles “but thank ya?”

“Ok, if you don’t want to see Callum, suit yourself.” Her eyes widened as he went forward and asked the coach for his bottle. She grabbed his arm

“Callum is here?!” She said in a surprised tone

“Yeah, I was surprised too. Claudia texted me half an hour ago that she and Callum came to the game together and she texted me again that they were waiting by the water fountain by the backdoor of the gymnasium just before we left the locker room” he answered “So, you wanna see him?” he arched an eyebrow at her with a smug grin

She strolled forward and grabbed her bottle, following behind Soren to the backdoor of the gymnasium

* * *

The first thing she saw when they opened the doors of the back of the gymnasium was Callum and Claudia. She was hunching over Callum and he was showing her something in his sketchbook with a big smile. Rayla felt a pang in her stomach building up at the sight, but she chose to ignore it

“Hey, you two!” Callum and Claudia looked up when Soren screamed: “You two can go on your date and flip through Callum’s sketches after the game!” _Wait, date?_ Rayla eyed the reactions from Callum and Claudia. Claudia only rolled her eyes and Callum shook his head at his friend. They weren’t denying that they were on a date. _Were Callum and Claudia in some sort of romantic relationship?_ Rayla shook her head. It didn’t matter. It was their private lives

Rayla then noticed the way Callum’s eyes softened when he finally saw her standing behind Soren. She was getting some confusing signs from him

“Hey!” Claudia dragged Callum by his arm until they were both standing in front of her and Soren. “Sorry, we won’t take too long with you two, we just want to wish good luck.”

“Yeah!” Callum said his head nodding excitedly. He is gripping his sketchbook tightly, just like he did yesterday. Claudia and Soren went to the fountain, leaving Callum and Rayla.

“So…” they both said at the same time and laughed, Rayla not giving in to the habit of putting her hand in front of her face

“Fancy seeing ya here” She says “I thought you said you weren’t the sport type”

“I’m not, I just never had a motive to come.” He says with a smile

“Soren is not motive enough?” she quicks her eyebrow playfully

“Not really…” He says and they both look at Soren at the siblings goofing off near the fountain “Also Claudia has been nagging me to come to see a game for months and I guess today she was able to convince me.” He rubs the back of his head bashfully and avoiding her gaze. He cleared his throat. “Anyway, I wanted to show you something.” He gets closer to her and flips open his sketchbook. He stops at a page near right next to the facial studies he showed her yesterday.

Once again, Rayla was left breathless at Callum’s abilities. It was a sketch of her, a mischievous grin in her eyes as she wrote _Camel_ on a cup. The amount of detailing of a scene that would’ve lasted 3 seconds at most was incredible. Every wrinkle of her face, every ruffle of her barista uniform was incredible.

“I think ya should change your name to Camel.” She says with a smirk at him and he laughs

“Maybe, I’ll talk to my parents about it.”

“What will ya tell them when they ask your motives for the name change?”

“That a friend called me that and it felt right, you know?” He answers and Rayla smiles

“So ya consider me a friend so quickly?” her smirk grows and Callum’s confidence dissolves and his face flares up

“O-Oh, hm- I guess? I won’t if you don’t feel comfortable, it’s just I consider my friend everyone who I trust enough to see my drawings and I did that to you so-“

“Callum, I’m kiddin’. Of course, ya’re my friend.” She smiles softly at him and he releases a sigh

“Hey, Rayla!” Soren calls her, already with his hand on the handle of the door and his now filled water bottle on the other “Let’s go before our coach come for our asses.” She nodded and turned to Callum

“I’ll see ya after the game?”

“You bet!” he says excitedly. She beams at him before following the blond back inside

* * *

“15-minute break everyone!” The coach says as Rayla and her teammates sat on the bench drenched in sweat, her heart racing a mile per minute probably. She drank the water inside of her bottle in almost one go and the rate seemed to slow down

After the first of the four turns, she had eyed the crowd quickly for either Runaan or Ethari, but she didn’t see them and that made her nervous for the second turn. She quickly got up from her seat and exited the court, signaling to her coach that she was going to the restroom.

It was a lie.

She just wanted to try to get a better angle at the audience. She tried to scan for her dads, but no use. She sighed deeply. She tried to contain her tears from spilling and leaned against a secluded wall near the restrooms, slowly falling to the floor, her knees near her chest. She really didn’t care if someone saw her like this. Her breath was shaky and she closed her eyes, some tears already wetting her cheeks

“Rayla?” Her eyes shot up and looked to see Callum just exiting the men’s restroom. His face was twisted with concern. Quickly, she wiped the tears from her eyes, but they just continued spilling “Hey, hey.” He knelt to be at her level and grabbed the hand that was wiping the tears away softly “It’s okay. What happened? Is the game going south? I don’t really understand sports, but I thought you guys had 10 more points than Evenere’s team.”

“It has nothing to do with the game.” she tells him “And I don’t really want to talk about it, so ya can go back to Claudia” she says tearing her hand from his with a scowl. He expected him to get up and fulfill what she had just said, but every day she found something different about him.

On Friday, she discovered that he didn’t quite like his job, just like she didn’t like hers.

On Saturday she discovered that Callum was extremely skilled at art.

Yesterday she discovered that he trusted her enough with his art and that he had a photographic memory.

Today she discovered the comfort in his hugs.

As soon as he wrapped his arms around her, she thought about how she was looking. She had just exited half of a game of basketball, she was drenched in sweat and by far she had the best smell in the world. But he didn’t flinch when he felt either of these things. He continued hugging her

She finally relaxed in his arms and after a few seconds, they separated. He was smiling at her, but his eyebrows were together in concern

“I won’t force you to say anything to me, but if you ever need to vent your feelings with someone, I can introduce you to something my family I used to do.” His hands take hers and he slowly rises up taking her up with him “It’s called _big feelings time._ I don’t usually do this a lot now because I live away from my parents, but when I was growing up, we did it every time we felt something was going wrong.” His smile didn’t vanish and Rayla felt as if her mood was already lifting. He pulled her in for another hug and she closed her eyes again in relief. She really needed a hug and she was happy that Callum was the one who gave it to her

 _“Rayla?”_ Her eyes shot open again and she looked in the direction of the familiar voice.

Runaan and Ethari were standing just a few meters away from both her and Callum, Runaan had his stern look at both of them and Ethari was just confused

“Hi...” She simply said at them, bashfully and still hugging Callum tightly

An explanation was on its way and it was probably going to be a very confusing one

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't worry, the next chapter picks up from here! Prepare for some Ruthari meeting Callum and obviously, pining


	6. ‘Cause I'll doze off safe and soundly

** Chapter Six - ‘Cause I'll doze off safe and soundly **

Callum couldn’t really see who Rayla was talking to. Her head in front of his vision field didn’t allow him to. He heard her take a deep breath before backing away from the embrace, just then he was able to see who they were

Two men, holding hands. One had an inquisitive look and the other had a severe face. They both had white hair, the same shade as Rayla’s.

Speaking of her, she cleared her throat, red-faced

“Runaan, Ethari!” She said and Callum saw how she cringed on how chipper she sounded “I thought ya two didn’t make it.”

“We got a spot in the far back, it’s really hard to see us from there.” The tallest of them with shorter hair said “We saw you leavin’ and decided to come after ya”

“But it seems like ya are… busy.” The other one said, the words dragging through his gritted teeth. Rayla looked confused for a moment then her whole face flared up

“O-Oh! Hm… Ethari, Runaan! This is Callum! My _friend_!” she said emphasizing the word. The two men only quirked their eyebrows “Callum, this is Ethari” she said gesturing to the men with shorter hair that had a friendly smile “and Runaan.” She gestured to the men with long hair that _still_ had a scowl on his face “They’re my dads.” Callum felt his face paling. _Oh shit-_

“H-Hello!” Callum said, his voice shaking. Rayla’s dads could tower him easily and he was very uncomfortable with the whole situation “I don’t want to be a bother. I… I’ll leave you three alone.” He said, turning on his heel, intending on going to the opposite direction that Rayla’s fathers were, but he quickly turned back and whispered to her “Can we talk properly after the game?” He asked with a small smile “Behind the gymnasium?” She only nodded and he left her, his face slowly regaining its color

As he walked up to his place beside Claudia, he dared to look in the direction where Rayla was and his heart warmed by seeing her hugging both of them, he couldn’t really confirm but he was sure she had happy tears in her eyes.

Speaking of tears, his heart clenched when he remembered the way Rayla was crying hopelessly in a secluded hallway. What would’ve happened if Callum wasn’t in the restroom at the time? Would she leave before the game finished? Would she hide what she was feeling when going to court? He didn’t quite know, all that he knew was that Rayla was feeling better and he had done something to make her feel better

He finally settled down beside Claudia who was texting someone, but quickly looked at him as he sat

“You okay?” he thought for a moment of saying what happened to Rayla, but quickly shook the idea off. If Rayla wanted to talk about the situation, she would do it herself. He had no right to go telling everyone, even though he knew Claudia wouldn’t go around talking about it

“I’m good” which was true, even though thinking again about Rayla in such a state, crying all alone, did shake him and his world, leaving his throat dryer than a desert

“Alright then” she dropped the subject, but Callum was well aware that Claudia knew something was up with him, she just chose not to force him to speak

They finally fell into a small chatter about their personal lives, nothing much. If it wasn’t for the loud whistle the referee blew into, they would take a while to know the game was starting. Callum then noticed Rayla entering the court with a bright smile. He let out a relieved sigh at the sight of it

“Hey… be honest with me” Claudia said nudging him with her elbow “do you think Rayla would be a good partner?” His brain shut down for a second before his face became entirely red

“W-Why do you ask?”

“I’m asking for a friend” she simply said with a smirk

“W-Which friend?” his stammering was getting more obvious

“Me, Callum! Gosh, you’re so oblivious!”

“Oh,” he simply said “well, I don’t know if I’m the right person to say if she would be a good girlfriend or not but-”

“Callum! I was joking! Rayla is cute, I’ll admit, but I think I like the one with the longer hair better,” Callum took notice of the only girl on Rayla’s team besides her. It was a rather short girl with dark skin and curly hair “Also, I don’t want to steal Rayla away from you” She leaned back on the bleacher and Callum groaned in response while she laughed

* * *

The game ended on an amazing note. Rayla hit the final 3 points, ending the game on 47 to 35 for Xadia. The team from Evenere was going home, but they seemed to be okay with that, they even went forward and shook hands with Xadia’s team, who responded with a smile and some even went as far as to give them a hug

Claudia coaxed him to get up with a pat on his back and he grabbed his bag from the floor

While descending from the bleachers, Callum took notice of Rayla, she was being hugged by everyone in her team and he could almost see tears of happiness in her eyes

When they finally released her from the hug, her eyes scanned around, finally landing on him and Claudia. He and Claudia smiled at her, her gaze faltering a bit before she ran out of the court, probably to the lockers

He and Claudia looked at each other confused, but when she shrugged her shoulders and continued her way down, he realized he could ask what was that about soon

He waved goodbye to Claudia and went to the backdoor entrance of the gym

* * *

Callum sat on the base of a tree behind the gymnasium. His sketchbook on his lap and him doing a sketch of Rayla with a wink, a smile and a basketball in her hand, twirling it in her the tip of her finger like in all those cartoons and comics. She was awesome in the game and he didn’t need to know a single thing about basketball to know that. Every time she grabbed the ball, the crowd would go silent to wait for her next move and cheered when she finally nailed it. Of course, the rest of the team was good, but Callum was just paying attention to Rayla

He even noticed how she was more focused after the 15-minute break. He was happy for her. They were going to the next phase and competing against another team next Monday

He couldn’t wait for it

As his pencil dragged around the paper as he refined the lines to give it a cleaner aspect, he heard footsteps approaching him and he immediately looked up

Rayla was walking towards him but she wasn’t wearing her basketball jersey anymore, rather a jumpsuit made out of jeans with a dark green shirt under, new sneakers and her hair was released from her ponytail into a braid on her shoulder

“Already drawin’ again?” she asked with a smirk he could only see due to the light around the area

“Yeah, gotta take what I can while I don’t hit another art block” he shrugged his shoulders and she walked until she was beside him, nudging him with her foot to give her some space beside him at the base of the tree

He scooted away and she sat beside him, relaxing instantly, throwing her head back with a relaxed sigh. They sat in silence for a few minutes, but it wasn’t an awkward silence, but a comforting one. Rayla just with her eyes closed, relaxing after a big game and Callum continuing to do a drawing of her

“I never actually thanked ya for what ya did.” she said, still with her eyes closed “I guess I really needed that comfort, but didn’t want to admit it to myself”

“No problem. I know how it feels to feel like you need a hug sometimes”

“Yeah…” she finally opened her eyes and in the corner of his eye, Callum could see that she had an inquisitive face, as if she wanted to ask him something but didn’t know how to approach. He let her gather her thoughts by herself

He finally saw her take a deep breath

“I saw Claudia leavin’ with Soren” she finally said it and he couldn’t help but raise a brow at her

“Yeah, what of it?”

“Didn’t Soren say that ya two could continue your flirtin’ after the game?” she said with a serious face but Callum was just confused

“What?” when her face didn’t change to her signature smirk, he started to feel even more confused, “You think me and Claudia are _dating_?”

“I mean, yeah. If not datin’, at least ya two are more than friends” If Callum hadn’t been so shocked, he would’ve laughed really loud.

“If you asked me that five or four years ago, I would’ve combusted right here just at the thought of that.” he says frankly

“What do ya mean?”

“When I was a teenager, I did have a crush on Claudia. Eventually, it went away and we decided to stay just as friends. It was actually better for both of us”

He could almost hear the cogs in her mind turning

“Oh. Sorry for that then” She let out a nervous chuckle before clearing her throat. He only smiled at her and she seemed to ease down “I thought I was crashin’ your date with her and I felt kinda bad.” _So that explained her face at the end of the game_

“No worries. If anything, she has a higher chance of being interested in you than in me,” he says with smirk and Rayla’s face flares up, before she hits him lightly on the shoulder and they fall into a pit of laughter

“Anyway, I was thinkin’ about what ya said before Ethari and Runaan appeared. About _big feelings time_ ”

“What about it?”

“How does it work exactly?” Callum smiles, closing his sketchbook and putting on the ground before turning so he can look directly at her. She follows the lead, imitating him

“You close your eyes,” he follows his own instruction to put an example “and ask yourself if you have any big feelings. Then you say them out loud and the other person says they hear your feelings and it makes you feel good!” he flutters his eyes open to find Rayla with her own eyes closed, a pout on her lips. He allows her to have her own time figuring out her feelings, while he focused on the way the light of the ambiance enhanced her features. He also chose to ignore the thought that Rayla’s face was not only pretty close to his face but so were her lips which were, again, pouted in his direction

Rayla finally fluttered her violet eyes open at him. Avoiding his gaze at them, he covered his mouth with his hand, trying to fake a cough and he could tell his cheeks were probably red and warm

“It’s a silly idea,” she said “but I’m willin’ to try if ya’re up for it”

“Right here?” he asks, genuinely curious, after all, they were in a public place and there were still some people exiting the gymnasium

“No silly” she rolled her eyes at him with a half-smile, half-smirk gracing her lips “We can video-chat, call each other or somethin’. Give me your phone” He reached into his pocket and took out his phone, unlocking it before handing to her. She quickly typed her number and saved it. “Send me a text when ya have time so I can save your number.”

“Alright!” he took his phone out of her hand as she stood up

“I gotta go now, but thanks again for coming to rescue me back then.” Her smile became bigger and he couldn’t help but smile too. “See ya, sad prince!” she waved back at him and went back into the gymnasium. He stared in her direction until she finally disappeared from view, releasing a breath then, while relaxing against the tree

His heart was swelling up for many reasons and they all had to do with her

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, Claudia is bi, _fight me_  
>  **Next up:** Callum and Rayla text each other


	7. I'll find repose in new ways

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Disclaimer:** This chapter has more texting than any other, but if you guys don’t like, don’t worry, it’s not going to a usual occurrence lol

** Chapter Seven - I'll find repose in new ways **

_Callum [10:23 am] Hey Rayla, what are you up to?_

_Rayla [10:25 am] I was helping my forensic chemistry teacher with some demonstrations_

_Rayla [10:25 am] turns out discovering blood traces is real fun_

_Callum [10:26 am] If I didn’t know that you actually study that and that you have a good heart, I would get very worried_

_Rayla [10:27 am] thanks for the compliment and for not thinking I am an assassin, I guess_

_Callum [10:28 am] Youre welcome :)_

Callum leaned back into the bench of the campus, his sketchbook on his lap and for the first in what felt for an eternity, it wasn’t Rayla he was drawing, but a portrait of his mom and dad. He missed both dearly every day and after his art block finally cracked, he felt ready to see both in person again

The last time he talked to his father on the phone was over a week ago and said he had some gossip on Ezran, but he wouldn’t tell Callum unless it was in person

Callum tried to ask Ezran about it, but he seemed to not know anything about it

So shortly after he got up from bed, he talked to his mother and asked if it was okay to visit them on Saturday. His mom was thrilled, to say the least

His phone vibrated again and he sneaked a glance at it

_Rayla [10:31 am] my bad ive never asked what **you** were up to lol_

Callum chuckled and he snapped a picture of the drawing

_Callum [10:32 am] *picture*_

_Callum [10:32 am] Just doing some drawings, not of you though_

_Rayla [10:33 am] are they your parents?_

_Callum [10:33 am] Yep_

_Rayla [10:34 am] they look awesome_

_Rayla [10:34 am] and also very much in love_

_Callum [10:35 am] Yes. They’ve been together for over 14 years_

_Rayla [10:36 am] that’s adorable_

_Rayla [10:38 am] is it weird to say that you have your mom’s smile?_

Callum chuckled before he typed again

_Callum [10:38 am] No, its not. Actually, some people used to say that and I felt really flattered_

_Callum [10:39 am] Although, I don’t think I’m able to replicate my mother’s smile. It’s much prettier and warm than anything I could ever draw_

_Rayla [10:39 am] well, if it actually looks like yours, I guess youre right_

His face flushed a shade of red and he could only wonder _“How does Rayla manage to make him so flustered even through text messages”_

He took a sip of his water bottle and his face seemed to cool down

_Rayla [10:40 am] alright gotta go to class_

_Rayla [10:40 am] we can talk more later_

_Callum [10:40 am] Alright, talk to ya_

She went offline and he gathered his things. Next class was in 5 minutes and he should get going before he got late

* * *

_Callum [4:09 pm] I’ve been having a hard time treating formally my COO after discovering she’s dating my aunt_

_Rayla [4:10 pm] the same aunt from saturday?_

_Callum [4:10 pm] Yes_

_Callum [4:10 pm] I’ve seen her kiss my aunt and she actually gave me hug when I was waving goodbye to them on Saturday_

_Callum [4:11 pm] I can’t explain_

Callum took a sip of his coffee in the breakroom of Lux Aurea CORP. The minutes were flying by as he talked to Rayla about the subject of their respective jobs

_Callum [4:11 pm] Today when I saw her with the CEO, I almost addressed her by her first name just because she asked me to on Saturday_

_Rayla [4:12 pm] was it going to be that bad if you did?_

_Callum [4:12 pm] Considering the fact that the CEO is the older sister of my COO? And she fired her assistant just because her coffee was too cold? Yes_

_Rayla [4:13 pm] wow_

_Rayla [4:13 pm] the most extreme thing my boss ever did was take away the phone from one of my coworkers for an entire day_

_Callum [4:14 pm] I wish that was my case_

He sighed. He shouldn’t really be bothering Rayla with these things, but he knew she also struggled with her job, therefore she was the only one capable of truly understanding how he felt

When Rayla didn’t say anything more, he took the rest of his coffee and got out of the break room

While walking down the hallway, he felt his phone vibrate again

_Rayla [4:17 pm] are we set on the video-chat 2nite?_

His face lit up with a smile

Rayla called during the day to arrange a time they could video-chat and have her first session of _big feelings time_. Callum was surprised at first. It hadn’t been 24 hours since he presented her with the concept and she was already willing to try. But after some reassurance that she really wanted to do that, they settled for 11:30 pm

He quickly typed as he sat on his chair

_Callum [4:20 pm] Yes! Can’t wait for it_

_Rayla [4:21 pm] me too <3_

He tried not to read much into that

* * *

Callum gazed into the reflection of the mirror above his sink, combing his hair in many different directions. If someone saw him, they would immediately guess that he was going on a date in his pajamas, but no. He was just video-chatting with his new friend to talk about her problems. There was no need for him to go as far as to comb his hair

But he did anyway

His anxiety was getting under his skin for no reason at all. Rayla wouldn’t judge him for having messy hair at the time he was supposed to be preparing for bed

He tried to take some deep breaths to calm it because Rayla would probably notice if he was on the brink of a panic attack. She was very good at reading people, after all

Seeing as there was no point in changing his hair, besides making him look like more of a clown than he already was, he walked out the bathroom, his eyes darting to his laptop, already open, just waiting for Rayla to finally call him

He took a last breath and sat on the chair

When 11:30 pm finally arrived, Callum was sitting uncomfortably on his chair. His reflection on the laptop stared back at him as if it was mocking him

He let out a startled gasp when Rayla’s name and photo flashed to the screen. His hand was shaking but he accepted the call anyway

He was prepared to get face to face with Rayla but was surprised to face the wall of a room. _Her_ room

“Rayla?”

 _“Sorry, Callum. I’m stoppin’ my roommate’s cat from enterin’ my room”_ her voice sounded far away and he heard a cat hissing before a window was shut. Quickly Rayla stepped up in front of the camera and Callum breath was caught in his throat

She was wearing turquoise sweat shorts and a purple tank top showing her shoulders with grace. Her hair was tied up in a messy bun which was enough for Callum’s breath to be taken away instantly

 _“Sorry about that again. If I don’t shoo her away, she’ll get fur over my bed and I’m not here for it”_ she sat in front of the screen

“No problem!” his voice was almost a squeak and she fondly rolled her eyes at him

_“So, how do we do this again?”_

“You already forgot?” he smiled at her

 _“Just tryin’ to break the tension, y’know”_ she shrugged her shoulders and he supposed that was fair

“Okay,” His eyes darted around for a bit as he looked for his next words before finding them “close your eyes.” She followed his lead “Now think to yourself: _‘do I have any big feelings I need to let it out?’_ ” he saw her eyes wrinkle a bit and the seconds passed before turning into a full minute before she spoke up again

 _“I… I’m scared.”_ She finally let out, her eyes still closed _“I’ve been scared of many things in my life up to this point. Water, never seein’ my parents again. But today, I’m scared of lettin’ people down.”_ Callum sensed how her voice was filled with emotion _“Yesterday if I went into court feelin’ the way I was, we would’ve lost the game in the first phase. Even though I know my team wouldn’t have blamed me entirely, I would have blamed myself.”_ Callum heard her take a shaky breath before continuing

 _“I’m scared of not graduatin’ because I know my dads put a lot of work to get me in. I don’t wanna let them down. They’ve been takin’ care of me since I was six. I won’t survive if I see them disappointed with me.”_ Then Callum notices the water forming around her closed eyes. Gosh, what he wouldn’t have done to make her feel better. Hug her, hold her hand, even kiss those tears away. Her hand briefly came up to wipe them away, but if his experience on crying taught him anything, that no matter how many times you wiped them off, they would always come back

 _“Sometimes, I also just wish my parents would call me more and visit more. What’s the cost of payin’ attention to your daughter?”_ The tears came down again, but she didn’t speak more, only taking deep breaths to calm herself down

Finally, after a few moments, her eyes fluttered open

 _“Gosh, that was pathetic, wasn’t it?”_ she said, with a fake smile. She was trying to hide her emotions with sarcastic comments. He wouldn’t let her

“I hear you Rayla and I’m happy that you trust me enough to tell me all those things.” He said sincerely “And it was not pathetic. You’re allowed to feel that way. You could cry about how the sky is not as blue as it used to be when you were just a kid and I still would hear you”

She let out a chuckle, _a real one_

 _“That was a very specific topic to cry about. Are ya speakin’ from experience?”_ a very pretty smirk appeared on her lips as he felt his cheeks get hot. He didn’t know if it was because he was caught or because-

“You’re very good at reading people Rayla, has someone ever said that to you?” he smiled at her

_“Of course, how do ya think I got the idea of bein’ a police officer?”_

They fell in a pit of laughter, slowly dying and they fell into a comfortable silence

“Can I ask you something?”

 _“Depends on what is it about”_ she answered with a shrug of her shoulders

“It’s about your family” her eyes widened a little bit but she quickly responded

_“Only if I get to ask somethin’ about yours”_

He nodded. It was a fair trade

“You can go first then”

 _“I didn’t want to be rude when I saw you and your brother on Saturday, but when I saw your drawing of your parents I almost asked by text.”_ She explained herself a bit before diving into the question _“are you adopted?”_

Callum was not surprised by this question. He grew up around them after all. When his mom wasn’t available to go to a school event and his dad did, their classmates and teachers asked if Callum _was_ Harrow’s son

“Yes and no,” he said “my mom in that drawing _is_ my biological mom, but when my biological dad died when I was a baby and my mom married my dad when I was five, he ended up adopting me as not his step-son, but as his son in all but blood” he explained the situation to her, who was silently listening to him “It took me a while to accept Harrow as my dad because in the first years he and I weren’t close as he would’ve liked to. In his words, he wanted to give me space to love my biological dad without thinking he was taking his place just because my mom felll in love again.” Callum released a sigh before concluding the story “Today, I love Harrow as if he was the one who helped my mom put me in this world. And in some ways, he is”

Rayla was smiling softly at him and he returned the smile

 _“That was beautiful Callum”_ she simply said _“Ya get to have your question now”_

“You talked about your parents and your dads.” She nodded “You have two pairs of parents?” she nodded again before leaning back on her chair

 _“My biological parents work across the continent. I don’t really know much about their work besides that it’s really important and that even before I was born they were tryin’ to get an opportunity to work there.”_ she explained _“My mom and dad weren’t expectin’ a child so soon into their weddin’ and that kinda messed up their plans. Of course, they loved me and cherished me, said that they wouldn’t change a single thing and I believe them, but when they finally got the opportunity to work and they left me under Runaan and Ethari’s supervision, I felt kinda empty”_ She confessed, her eyes closing again, but it didn’t seem like she was going to cry again _“They tried to keep up a routine of visiting me for my birthday every year until I was about twelve, but after that it became harder to see them, so they started sending me a letter for my birthday every year.”_ Just like he did, she released a breath before concluding her story _“I eventually grew to see Ethari and Runaan as my fathers, but the fact that I haven’t seen my biological parents in about 6 or 7 years hurts”_ They were silent for a few moments before Callum spoke up, a determined look on his face

“Rayla, I want you to understand something” her eyes snapped open to look at him “If you ever need anything, whether it’s some emotional support because you’re feeling down or you just need someone to hang out, you can count on me, okay?” she didn’t say anything, so he pressed the subject “Rayla, I want to know that you understand that. I’m not going anywhere until you give a clear sign you understood me.” She took a deep breath, her lips parting slightly before she closed then again and looked at him with determination

 _“Alright, I heard ya, Callum”_ there was no joke in her voice, just complete and serious tone. He nodded and looked at the time on the corner of his screen

“It’s almost midnight. We should get some sleep” she nodded at him

 _“Goodnight Callum and… thank you. For bein’ here and hearin’ me out. I really need that. More than ya know.”_ She smiled softly at him before the call finally ended

He took a deep breath and closed his laptop and face-planted his pillow

Sleep finally drowned him as he closed his eyes and the only thought in his head was how important it was that Rayla trusted him

That was all that mattered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some seeds for future chapters are being planted, can you guess some of them?  
>  **Up next:** Rayla gets in trouble oh oh


	8. I'll sit on the front porch all night

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy April Fools everyone, this chapter might as well be the only real thing you guys will see today  
> Enjoy this chapter who wasn't supposed to come out this early, but I'll be busy later so might as well put it out now

** Chapter Eight - I'll sit on the front porch all night **

Rayla sat in front of her resident assistant office. She had just been released earlier from her shift and the only thing she wanted was to get into her bed and sleep

But as soon as she entered the dorm building, her RA, Mrs. Meriel said she wanted to have a talk to her in her office. Rayla said she would go as soon as she took a bath

And she did. Now 10 minutes later, here she was sitting in one of the chairs in front of the office, while her RA was talking with someone else inside. After a few moments, the door unlocked

“Rayla, come in please” Meriel said as she poked her head out of the room and Rayla obeyed.

Sitting in one of the two chairs available for guests was the roommate who had a room right above her and a student of scenic arts, Celaena.

Rayla immediately felt something was wrong as she entered the room and saw for a split second Celaena was smiling but quickly she turned that smile into a frown

“Take a seat Rayla” Meriel said as she sat on her own chair in front of them “Rayla, this afternoon I was informed that a boy had snuck in our dorms last night at around 11:30 pm. He was found in Celaena’s room and while I don’t have the right to prohibit any of the girls from having relationships, it is an explicit rule in our dorm that no boys are allowed after the nightfall, especially into the rooms”

To say Rayla was confused was an understatement, but she continued listening in silence

“When I questioned Celaena, she testified that you helped him get into the building”

 ** _“WHAT?”_** The way Rayla stood abruptly was enough to knock the chair she was sitting fall into the floor with a loud thud

“ _Excuse me?!_ I have nothin’ to do with this!” she glared at the girl by her side

“Rayla, I’ll ask you to calm down.” Meriel tried

“NO!” she screamed “Ya have no right to rope me in in this story!” she pointed her finger at the girl “If ya got caught with your boyfriend, that’s your loss! I’m not goin’ to take part of the blame to help ya! We never even talked properly before!”

Again, Rayla saw through Celaena façade, for a millisecond she saw her eyebrow furrow in anger but quickly dissolved into a pity face as she “cried”. If she didn’t know better, Rayla would believe the girl. She really was an excellent actress

“Rayla, if you don’t calm down, I’ll have to ask you to go for a walk until you calm down properly.” Her RA’s voice was firm, which made Rayla snap

Quickly she got the chair that was laying on the floor and put it up

“If ya want me to leave, fine. I’ll leave.” She burst out of the office, almost breaking the door in anger

The next seconds were a blur to her. The next thing she knew, she was locking her dorm door and stuffing clothes from her drawer into a backpack

Someone was knocking on her door, but she ignored, continuing to put her phone and charger into one of the pockets and grabbing a coat from the hanger inside the room

 _“Rayla! Open this door, please.”_ Meriel said, her knocking not stopping for a single second as she tried to open the door

Rayla opened the window of her room and looked down. It was about 15 feet to the ground since she lived on the second floor of the dorm. She definitely had jumped from higher places and survived. Grabbing her backpack, she waited for the knocking and the struggling on the handle to cease before she unlocked the door silently

The last thing she saw before jumping out of the window was the door opening slowly

She ran into the night as fast as she could, not caring where she would go

* * *

Rayla sat on the grass of the campus, her knees pressed to her chest and her phone in her hand. It was almost 10 pm. There was nowhere she could go. If she went back to her dorm, she would have to deal with that girl accusing her of something she didn’t do and she was having none of it. She eyed the backpack with all her clothes. She groaned loudly

What was she thinking when she did that? Just shoving her phone and a bunch of clothes inside a backpack and jumping out of the window with nowhere to go

Groaning, she laid on the grass with her hands all over her face, fighting the blame and the tears

She tried to think of any plausible options

If she tried to go to Runaan and Ethari’s house, they would never let her near the university again to protect her from all these lying douches; All the buildings were locked when the night started to fall, there was no way she could sneak in and sleep in one of the classrooms; She didn’t have any female friends out of the dorm, so trying to sleep in one of their houses was impossible-

Her eyes widened and she sat up again. She didn’t have female friends, but she did know someone she trusted and someone who said that she could ask for help at anytime

_Callum_

She quickly unlocked her phone and dialed his number. Every passing second that he didn’t pick up, her heart rate seemed to increase

 _“Rayla?”_ his voice was almost enough to calm the beating of her heart. Almost _“Is everything okay?”_

“Callum, I…” she was already on the verge of tears but hearing him so worried about her even though he didn’t know anything about what was happening to her, she felt them falling and quickly she was sobbing into the phone

 _“Rayla, please don’t cry…”_ his words just made her sob even more _“Don’t worry, I’m not going anywhere. Just let everything out.”_

She did. She cried for what it felt like hours and Callum never once tried to stop her. When her sobs finally stopped, she took a deep but shaky breath

_“Are you feeling better?”_

“Yeah” she said, her voice still shaking “Thank ya, for listenin’”

 _“I told you. You can trust me with your feelings”_ a small smile appeared on her face _“Are you ready to explain what happened?”_

“Aye” she sniffed and she explained the situation to him. Every little bit

_“I can go tomorrow talk to your RA. I’ll testify that we were video-chatting and I’ll get you out of it, okay?”_

“Okay.” They were silent for a few seconds before he continued the conversation

_“Is there anything else I can do now?”_

“I just needed some comfort” she said “I also wanted to know if ya have any idea about what I can do” he was silent for a few seconds before she heard his breath catch slightly

 _“I thought of Claudia, but she’s out of town on a field trip…”_ Rayla listened carefully, her fingers touching the grass under her _“I… I also have an idea, but you need to be 100% comfortable with it”_

“Callum, I’m takin’ anything at this point. I just don’t wanna spend the night outside” he took another breath

 _“I have an entire apartment to myself. You can just spend the night here”_ Rayla’s face flushed _“Don’t worry about where to sleep, I have a couch and-”_

“I’ll take it”

_“O-Oh! Alright! Well, I can take my car and get you back here”_

“Wait, ya have a car? Didn’t you leave by Uber on Friday?”

 _“My car was in the repair until today”_ he explained with a light chuckle _“Can you wait for me in the front of the west buildings? I’m not going to take long, 15 minutes or so.”_

“Alright, thank ya Callum” she smiled

 _“Anytime”_ he simply said and the call ended

The cold air of the early spring hit her bones, but she still felt warm inside as she picked up her backpack from the grass and headed for the west buildings

* * *

Rayla opened the passenger’s door with her backpack slung over one shoulder. She still felt the tear marks down her cheeks

They didn’t exactly talk during the car ride, but it wasn’t an uncomfortable silence. It was a reassuring one. Whenever they stopped in a traffic light, Rayla would see him sneaking warm glances at her, just checking up on her and she was glad for that

The car ride ended when they entered the garage of a building and faster than she could think about it, they were entering Callum’s studio apartment

The first thing she saw was a small kitchen with minimum supplies. A sink, a fridge, a stove and some cabinets and counters that matched

Callum went ahead and turned the corner and she followed him to the main room

It was modest. Not many objects, just enough for someone to live on their own or with another person if they wanted to. The main colors were red, golden, brown and white. Rayla didn’t know much about color and how to decorate an apartment, but it was aesthetically pleasing

On her left, she saw a door, which was open to a small bathroom

A little ahead to her right, there was a 3-person-couch, a TV, a desk with books on it. At the very end of the room, she saw a round table with 2 chairs that were right by the window

She stood awkwardly as Callum disappeared into a secluded corner that she couldn’t really see, but taking a few steps forward, she saw a queen-sized bed, with red and golden covers that looked very warm. Callum was getting one of the pillows off his bed and some covers from one of the drawers in the foundation of the furniture. Rayla quickly took the hint and left her backpack by the couch and sat on it

Callum’s eyes widened as he saw her

“What are you doing?”

“Um? Gettin’ comfortable in the place I’ll be sleepin’?”

“Nope, nope!” he dropped the covers and the pillow on the opposite end of the furniture and gently raised her with his hands on her arms “You’re not sleeping on the couch. I am”

“What?” her eyes widened and she took a step back “Callum, I can’t take your bed from ya, I’m only stayin’ one night!”

“Exactly. I’ve been sleeping on that bed for almost a year and a half. One night isn’t going to kill me. I’m not a spoiled prince, Rayla” his hands came down to grip her’s as she looked into his emerald eyes. She saw the same fierce look of determination from last night on them. He wasn’t backing off until she accepted it. Reluctantly, she let out a huff

“Fine.” The corners of his mouth lifted and she had to suppress the urge to smile back at him

Callum let her use the bathroom first as he set up his “bed”

Opening her backpack, she grabbed the only sleepwear she found in there, which also happened to be the same clothes she used last night before she went to bed: her favorite purple tank top and turquoise sweat shorts. She was just glad they were still clean

The mirror above the sink revealed the state of her face. Her cheeks were still slightly damp and her eyes were red from the crying, her nose was stuffy. She looked just like how Callum found her on the game night 2 days ago, but at least this time, she wasn’t drenched in sweat

She washed her face. She could do this, she was a strong and independent woman. She wasn’t going to let some lies get to her

With her confidence somewhat restored, she got out of the bathroom and Callum was on the kitchen

Curious to know what he was doing, she appeared at the door and he was hunched as he put what appeared to be milk in a glass

“Rayla! I was-” she saw the way his eyes traveled from up to down as soon as he turned around to face her

 _Oh. Right._ She didn’t really think of her clothes choice before she came out of the bathroom. He remained silent for a few seconds and Rayla could tell a faint blush was dusting his cheeks. It was kind of adorable. She cleared her throat and he finally snapped out of the trance

“I-I made some warm milk for you. It’ll help you sleep better!” he gave her the glass “I-If you don’t mind, I’ll go put my own pajamas” he quickly got off the kitchen, almost leaving a trail of dust behind him

Rayla took a sip of the milk and felt her body relax almost immediately

Callum was quickly out of the bathroom, sporting black sweatpants, and a loose red shirt

“Callum, can I put my phone to charge?” she asked as she eyed the socket by the bed. He responded with a clear sound of approval. Her phone was almost dead but still could see that it was almost 11 pm. She really needed to sleep. Fortunately, Callum had the same idea, as he turned off the light in the whole apartment and quickly dived under the covers after saying goodnight to her.

While she waited for his breathing to even out, she was laying stiff on the bed, looking to the ceiling, the covers only covering up to her waist. The problem wasn’t with the bed, of course, she just wanted to know if he was going to be able to sleep on the furniture

When his breathing evened out in a few minutes, she finally felt herself relax, releasing a breath, changing into a more comfortable position on the bed

With half of her face buried into the pillow, she breathed in and out before she realized

_The pillow smelled like Callum_

The scent of fresh pine and flowers was unmistakable. She couldn’t help but bask into the smell and the warmth, breathing deeply with a smile on her face, before her eyes snapped open and she sat up abruptly

_Was she smelling his pillow? What the fuck was wrong with her?_

She fought the urge to groan and laid back again. She just needed to sleep. That was it

She pulled the covers up to her elbows and her skin tingled.

Even the covers smelt like him, and the warmth they gave her almost felt like one of his incredible hugs

She buried her face in her hands and groaned into them

There was nowhere she could go, she was trapped in his bed and the wonderful sensations they were giving her

When she finally fell asleep, her last thoughts were that she, deep down, wanted to feel those sensations again

She wouldn’t remember those thoughts in the morning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Up next:** _“and they were roommates!” “oh my god they were roommates”_


	9. 'Cause I wish you were here

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This will be the final chapter with my current schedule of posting a chapter every two days. I’ve been doing nothing but writing to keep this schedule. Don’t worry though! I’ll probably change the schedule to 3 days, 4 at most! And maybe if I manage to reorganize my schedule, I’ll come back to posting a chapter every two days! I hope you all are okay with this, thank you for your support <3 (Also, thank you [@raayllum](https://raayllum.tumblr.com/)/[wordswithdragons](https://archiveofourown.org/users/wordswithdragons/pseuds/wordswithdragons) for coming forward and aiding me with my decision of changing my schedule, you’re incredible! Go send love to her!)  
> Now, let’s stop the mushy stuff and get into the chapter! Enjoy!

** Chapter Nine - 'Cause I wish you were here **

_“…Rayla…”_ she could vaguely hear someone calling her name. A warm voice that tugged the string of her heart _“…Rayla?”_ She smiled as she realized that was Callum’s voice

She always liked her name, but hearing Callum say it, was a different thing. It somehow warmed her heart every time she heard how beautifully her name rolled out of his tongue

_“…wake up”_ he said and she complied. Her heart fluttered as she opened her eyes and saw Callum’s soft features and piercing green eyes

“Hey, Callum…” she said, her voice coated with sleep. Her hand came up to cover his on her shoulder that was gently shaking her awake “what are ya doin' in my room?” not that she was complaining, it was a beautiful sight to wake up to. He chuckled and her heart fluttered even more

“ _Your_ room? More like _my_ room” her eyes snapped open and she finally took the surroundings. The unfamiliar bed with an amazing scent, warm covers…

The memories of last night rushed back to her. She was sleeping in Callum’s bed. In his apartment

She sat on the bed instantly, almost hitting Callum in the face in the process

“Shit! Sorry! I forgot!” she really did

“It's okay,” he reassured her with a light chuckle of his own and sat by her side “did you sleep well?”

“Yeah, actually.” She said “Thanks for lettin' me sleep in your bed”

“No problem” he smiled at her and gripped her hand tighter. _Oh_. Her hand was still on his

She bashfully retreated her hand and avoided his gaze

“What time is it?” she asked, throwing her arms above her head to shake off the sleep

“About 7 am.”

“Ya do know that classes only start at 9, right?” she smirked at him

“Yes, but I actually want to go early so I can talk to your RA and you can go back and sleep on your dorm”

“What? Ya don’t like me here?” she smirked more at him and was slightly satisfied on the way his cheeks became red

“No! T-That’s not it! It’s just you deserve your own room! Not that you are not a good company it’s just-“ she quickly started laughing

“I’m just messin’ with ya! Didn’t you hear anythin’ I said last night? I don’t want ya to have to deal with me here more than today” she slung her legs out of the bed and got up, already missing its warmth “I’ll be hittin’ the shower first okay?” he nodded, still red in the face. She would be lying if she said she didn’t take some pride out of it

It wasn’t hard to choose an outfit from her backpack, after all, besides the pieces she was wearing, the rest of them were the clothes she was wearing last night before running off: a dark turquoise shirt and black leggings, plus the dark blue coat that was hanging in Callum’s hanger since last night

The shower really woke her up but the smell from the kitchen was helping her stand up

She looked at Callum and he was mixing something in a frying pan. Rayla couldn’t help but think of how domestic that image was and that definitely helped heat her cheeks

Her footsteps alerted him and he looked at the door

“Hey, Rayla, so do you rather have eggs or bacon for breakfast?” _was he making breakfast for her? Oh crap, he was too sweet…_

She gulped before answering

“Whatever you usually have is good for me” she admitted and he nodded before turning his attention to the stove again

She awkwardly packed her clothes into her backpack before sitting on the table by the window. The scent from the kitchen slowly traveling to her nose and watering her mouth. She usually didn’t eat before classes, just grabbed something to keep her awake during the classes before lunch, but she wasn’t dumb enough to deny a proper breakfast

The scent got stronger and before she could realize, Callum was putting plates with bacon _and_ eggs in front of her, plus two cups of coffee

“Probably not as good as the ones you make at your work,” he said pointing to the cup in front of her “but I tried”

Rayla didn’t see why he was so worried, the food smelled delicious and that included the coffee

“You go ahead and eat, I need to change and shower” he explained as he headed for his drawer, grabbing some clean clothes and heading for the bathroom

Rayla bit the food and she almost melted. It was incredible. Was there something Callum wasn’t good at? Besides art, cooking, having a gold heart and devastatingly good looks-

She stopped the train of thoughts right then and there

The coffee was not perfect though, but the fact he went out of his way to make it just to please her, erased all the mistakes he made while doing it

The breakfast was finished before Callum even left the bathroom, a fact that made him chuckle while Rayla was just slumped on the chair, her stomach full

While Callum ate his own breakfast, Rayla decided to help him and wash her dishes

Once again, the domestic scenario crossed her mind. Him eating breakfast at the table while she washed the dishes. Her cheeks heated up once again

She shoved them out of her mind, Callum was sweet for letting her stay in his apartment for the night. This wouldn’t happen again

No, not ever again

* * *

Callum parked his car in the parking lot near the university. It was almost 8 am. They had one hour to get her back into her dorm before classes. They could do this.

As they entered The University, she noticed something was going on. People stopped and stared at her, some whispered with their friends. If it was just her, she would’ve understood. People would know about the student who ran away from her dorm last night, she was just glad Runaan and Ethari didn’t know about it yet, but she could care less about what other people thought about her running away

The question was: _why were they also staring at Callum?_ He didn’t do anything. He was the literal embodiment of a perfect student

Callum didn’t seem to notice something was going on, so she decided to keep her mouth shut as they walked to her dormitory

The stares and whispering only intensified when she entered the dorm, all the girls were wide-eyed as she entered the building. She only glared back at them

Sooner than she expected, she was sitting in front of her RA officer, while Callum knocked on the door. The lights inside were on so that meant she was in there

It didn’t take long for Mrs. Meriel to open the door and see Callum and Rayla there. Her eyes were wide and she invited both in

Rayla conveniently sat on the same chair from last night while Callum sat beside her

“Rayla… I was worried!” Rayla scoffed but kept her mouth “You couldn’t have just run off into the night like that Rayla! We had no idea where you went” _that was the whole point_ she almost said

“I believe that you were worried about Rayla, Mrs...” Callum started

“Meriel”

“Right. I believe that you were worried about Rayla, Mrs. Meriel. But I came here in her defense.” he smiled at her “Rayla was accused of helping a boy sneak in the dormitory at about 11:30 pm on Tuesday. I pity for the girl who chose to sneak her boyfriend in at this time and tried to blame it on Rayla, but at that time, Rayla and I were busy video-chatting and I can assure you she didn’t leave that room for a moment while we were talking”

Rayla felt her chest warm with his words. She wasn’t kidding when she said he had a heart of gold

“If you need further proof, I have the time and length of the video chat recorded in the software we used, also messages we exchanged about it”

“No need for that, young man,” she said “Celaena’s boyfriend, after hearing about the fact, came forward to say that he snuck in alone with only her help” she said before turning her eyes to Rayla “I’m very sorry about what happened, Rayla. Celaena has already been punished by the University guidelines. Is there something you want us to do for you, Rayla?”

“Just…” she took a deep breath “The next time somethin’ like this happens, just try to hear both sides of the story. I’m lucky to have found a place to sleep through the night, but some other girls may not be so lucky.”

“I understand. And once again, apologize for my behavior” the woman said and Rayla only nodded as she got up and headed towards the door with Callum

When they were out, Rayla smiled at Callum, who smiled back at her

“Also, thank you for coming forward and defending Rayla, young man. You’re a very good boyfriend to her” Her RA simply said before closing the door, leaving the two red in their faces. She left no room for them to deny as she closed the door before they could comprehend her words.

“S-So! We still have time before classes, wanna finally go through my sketchbook?”

She only nodded, her face uncomfortably warm and they headed down the stairs, the glares from her roommates continuing. Once again, she found that she didn’t care

* * *

“This is my brother’s pet, Bait!” Callum said pointing to a drawing of a frog that looked more like if the Grumpy Cat and a Kermit the Frog had a child

They were sitting beside one another on the base of a tree in a patch of grass right in front of Rayla’s dorm, Callum’s sketchbook laying in the center of their laps

“Your brother has a frog? That’s an interesting pet choice”

“Not a frog, a toad”

“Same difference” she shrugged her shoulders

“Not really!” he said “You see, frogs have slender and long legs and can jump higher and usually they’re poisonous! As for toads, they have smaller and thicker legs that don’t really help when they’re trying to jump. Also, they’re bigger compared to most frogs”

“Thanks for the biology lesson, I will use the knowledge wisely when I have to investigate a murder that involves a frog or a toad” she said, rolling her eyes playfully

“You’re welcome!” he said before they both fell into a pit of laughter

_“Callum! Rayla!”_ They both looked and saw Soren running towards them, almost tripping on his way

“What’s up, Soren?” Rayla greeted him. He was slightly out of breath, which was a rare occurrence

“Why… didn’t… you tell me that you guys were dating?” _What? Not this again_

“What gave you this idea?” Callum asked, his cheeks not red as she thought they would be

“Haven’t you guys checked your phones today? There’s a photo of you and Rayla exiting your apartment in your car” their eyes widened and she scrambled to turn her phone on as Callum did the same

When she unlocked her phone and entered her Twitter, there were at least a dozen people in her private messages sending her the same image. Someone, somehow, managed to get a clear picture of her and Callum in his car exiting his building

_“_ Fuck _”_ they both said at the same time

If Ethari and Runaan saw this, they would never trust her again. Just three days ago she said to them there was nothing romantic going on between her and Callum. What would they think if they saw this picture?

“Soren! Is this why everyone was starin’ at us?” Rayla said, getting up from her spot under the tree

“Duh. I mean, you run away from your dorm and sleeps at Callum’s? People are going to talk” Rayla looked at Callum who was with a terrifying look on his features as he scrolled down the screen of his phone “Wait, so you two are not dating?”

_“NO!”_ they both shouted at him

“Oof, sorry, sorry…” he said bashfully

“How can I get rid of this rumor? Seems like everyone in school already knows about this”

“I’m mostly concerned about my dads findin’ about it…” Rayla admitted as she started to copy and paste an answer to everyone, saying that she and Callum weren’t dating “Soren, do us a favor. Go out there on Twitter, Instagram, hell, even Tumblr if needed and say that _we are not datin’. Period_ ” Soren nodded and grabbed his phone

Rayla let out a tired huff and looked at Callum. His fingers were tapping on the screen rapidly. She was getting worried about his reaction. Yeah, the situation was bad, but nothing they couldn’t deny

“Hey, Callum,” she started “don’t worry, everything is going to be fi-” his ringtone startled her and he quickly got up from the ground to pick up the call, staying a few feet away. Not enough distance for her not to pick up what he was saying

“Hey, mom… no mom. I’m not dating her! It’s the truth! If I was, you would be the first one to know, even before Ez! You know that!” Rayla could see the distress in his voice “W-What? No! Mom, no please” the sudden change of his voice tone startled her. He stayed silent for a few moments before he sighed deeply “Fine” he tapped his foot rapidly on the ground “Love you too…” he mumbled before he put down his phone

Rayla was curious, to say the least, but she didn’t know if it was right for her to ask about it. She didn’t have to dwell on it long enough, because Callum came forward, his hands on his pockets, bashfully

“So, Rayla…” he started, clearly avoiding her gaze “my mom wants to meet you”

_What. The. Fuck?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Up next:** Rayla gets embarrassed, but at least she’s not alone


	10. 'Cause cold nostalgia chills me to the bone

** Chapter Ten - 'Cause cold nostalgia chills me to the bone **

“Don’t worry about impressing my parents, okay? If there’s one thing I know it’s that they are super chill with everyone” Callum said as they got out of his car in front of his parents’ house. The last time he was here, everything was filled with snow and he could see the Christmas lights hanging from every window. Now, it was different. The flowers in the front yard were all buds and some of them had already sprouted. The grass was greener and the air was definitely starting to get warmer

“I’m not tryin’ to impress anybody” Rayla mumbled as they walked up to the front door

“Really?” he eyed the way she was dressed “This is the first time I see you wearing something that isn’t sneakers.” Rayla was wearing black sandals with grey details “Also, you’re wearing a skirt”

“With leggings! Don’t patronize me!” she faked a pout as she hit him in the shoulder

“Alright, alright!” he laughed and pressed the doorbell, the sound echoing through the house

It took a few moments and finally, the door opened, revealing Harrow with a friendly smile on his features

“Hi da-” Callum wasn’t able to finish it before Harrow swept him up in a crushing hug

“Callum! I missed you, son!”

“I missed you too, dad” Callum said, patting Harrow in the back and they separated

“So, you must be Rayla?” Harrow said

“Aye! Nice to meet you, sir” Rayla offered her hand to him, but he instantly pulled her to a hug, crushing her, but separating quickly

“It’s been years since Callum brought a new friend home. Actually, I don’t think he ever did that…”

“OKAY! You can talk about how of an antisocial I am when I’m not around!” He was red in the face, he could feel that. His dad only chuckled and got out of the door frame to let them both in

“Your mother is in the kitchen if you want to go see her” Callum nodded and silently signaled with his head for Rayla to follow him

The nostalgic feelings started to chill his bones when he started to sniff the smell coming from the kitchen. The evenings where Claudia, Soren and their dad all came. Also, they were very embarrassing evenings to him, since he and Claudia always sat next to each other in the table. His childhood crush on her didn’t help his awkwardness

Everything was different now. He didn’t have any sort of romantic feelings towards the woman anymore, Viren was living in another country, he didn’t live with his parents and he was bringing a new friend home

The trip to the kitchen was short but appreciated. He soon saw his mom, her head ducked into the fridge. The footsteps seemed to alert her because she immediately closed the fridge to look at them

“Callum!” she exclaimed and went to hug him, less tight than his dad’s, but equally as warm “You look so big now! It’s that stubble on your chin?” she said, narrowing her eyes to get a better look at his face, who was getting warm in embarrassment

“I don’t know about that” he said, bashfully. He cleared his throat “Mom, this is Rayla. Rayla, this is my mom”

“It’s nice to meet ya, ma’am” Rayla said, the most formal he ever saw her

“Forget about the _ma’am_. You’re our guest! Call me Sarai” she opened a big smile to Rayla “I was surprised to hear about Callum having a new friend at the university! He hasn’t had a new friend since ever!”

“That’s how you and dad torture me these days? Talking about how socially awkward I am to everyone you see?” Sarai only nodded and Callum groaned. Rayla was trying to suppress a laugh

“So… I want to be sure about this.” She started and Callum could see the mischievous glint in his mother’s dark eyes “No dating between you two?” _Yep, there it was_

“Mom!” He shouted and noticed that Rayla was looking at her feet

In the last two days, all Callum and Rayla did was receive texts about their “relationship”

Some were supportive, like Claudia who stopped somewhere in her trip to text him her congratulations that _“she knew that something would spark eventually”_

Some were negative, asking how _“Rayla, this super hot girl who was champion in basketball date a loser like him”_

He made sure to block every single one of them, not bothering to give them an answer

Some people still believed the rumors, but in general, everything seemed to have calmed down. They were back into their regular schedules

“Just joking, sweetheart,” his mom said. He had to change the subject quickly. He looked around and saw a plate of jelly tarts in the counter. A small light bulb went off in his head

“Mom, where’s Ez?” he tried to sound nonchalant

“In his room, but I wouldn’t disturb him ye-”

“OKAY! THANKS, MOM! BYE!” He shouted before grabbing Rayla by his arm and running down the hall and up the flight of stairs

They stopped in front of his old room he shared with Ezran, now it completely belonged to his younger brother. The memories of the hundreds of sleepovers they had in the room came flooding in. He missed so many things of his old life, Ez was definitely one of the more important ones

Not bothering to knock, he opened the door, who was shut, but not locked, which was weird, since Ez never shut his door to anyone

“Hey Ez! Look who’s her-” Callum stopped as he saw Ez wasn’t alone

A girl of his age was laying in her stomach in his bed, her eyes locked into the book Ezran was reading at the foot of his bed. The girl had caramel skin, big brown eyes and her chocolate brown hair was tied in a braid over her shoulder

Ez had a mortified look on his face when he saw Callum at the door, releasing a squeak that didn’t match his current fourteen-year-old voice

“Hi!” the girl chirped and waved her hand excitedly

“Hi?” Callum said, clearly confused

“C-Callum! What are you doing here?” Ezran said, his voice still a little high

“Didn’t mom and dad tell you? I’m here for a visit”

“I mean, they did, I just didn’t realize the time had gone so fast and…” he was babbling. _What was going on?_

“Don’t worry, Ez” The girl said as she properly sat on the bed and put a hand on his shoulder “It seems like we lost track of the time. I gotta go home, my dad will get worried” she got up from the bed and put on her shoes and grabbed her bag, passing by Callum and Rayla with a big smile “Byeeeeee!” she continued her “bye” until she was down the flight of the stairs

“Ez, who was that?” Callum asked, clearly amused

“That’s Ellis, she studies with me” Ezran got up from the floor and went to his shelf to put away his book. Callum could clearly see he was blushing. _Oh. Oooooh…_

“I can’t believe you got a girlfriend and you don’t tell me! I feel betrayed!” Callum fakes a pout to his brother and Ezran turns around to face him

“Ellis is not my girlfriend!” he hisses

“Clearly not” Rayla adds, with an amused smile of her own “It seems more like a crush. We interrupted them, Callum! What a tragedy!” she tries not to giggle

“STOP WITH THAT RAY- Wait, Rayla?” all the embarrassment fleed from his face as he acknowledged her presence “What are you doing here?”

“Mom asked to meet her, but don’t deflect the question, you little bugger!” He ruffled his afro “You have a crush! How cute!” he hugged his brother tightly

“Get off me!” he struggled to get out of his brother’s arms

“I’m going to give you advice on everything!” Ezran stopped his struggles and let out a booming laugh

“You… give me advice?” he said between laughs “You were never even able to say you liked Claudia before you were fifteen!”

“Seriously?” Callum raised a brow “Dad, mom and you are making fun of me? Is this what you three do now? Gather every Saturday to make fun of my life?” Callum liberated his brother, his face red for what it seemed to be the millionth time this evening alone and he wasn’t counting how red he was when he picked up Rayla and saw how beautiful she looked and-

“Come on, let’s go eat! Mom bought jelly tarts!” Ezran said and walked away from the room with Callum and Rayla on his trail

As they walked down the hall, Rayla stopped as she took notice of some pictures in a wall

“Oh. My. God. Callum is this ya in this picture?” she pointed at a small picture and he backtracked to look at the one she was talking about

It was a picture of him, still as a baby, probably about 5 years old. He was wearing a wizard costume to a Halloween Party, the hat a little too big for his head. He had a big smile with some baby-teeth missing

He wanted to sink into the floor with shame

“Oh, gods, please kill me now…” he groaned

“Ya looked…” _She was going to laugh at him_ “so cute!” _wait, what?_

“Huh?”

“Please tell me ya have more of these?” she had a glint in her eyes that was amusing him

“He doesn’t, but I do!” His mom was poking her head out of the kitchen door into the hallway, a mischievous grin in her lips

“Nope! We're not going through my baby pictures! Too many of them have my baby butt exposed and I don’t want Rayla to see it!” he grabbed Rayla by her hand and dragged her away from his mom, finally releasing a breath

“Are you worried I’m going to laugh at your pictures?” she asked with a smirk as they stopped near the entrance to the dining room

“I just don’t wanna go home and start having thoughts about how you saw my butt” he immediately realized the impact his words had “My baby butt! Not my actual bu-”

“I get it. Don’t need to elaborate on that” she said and released his hand, red in the face “Let’s just eat, okay?”

He nodded and went forward to the table. His dad was helping put the dishes while Ezran helped set the plates

Rayla sat awkwardly in one of the chairs as Callum helped his father set the dishes

“Wow, that’s a lot of food” Rayla said awkwardly but also a little bit surprised “Ya didn’t have to go this far” His dad snorted

“This is not far from what we usually have, Rayla. Sarai and Ezran have quite an appetite” he chuckled, earning a pout from Ezran

 _“I’ve heard that Harrow!”_ His mom shouted from the kitchen and Callum saw how his dad winced _“Keep it up and you’ll be sleeping in your study tonight!”_ Callum suppressed a laugh and sat besides Rayla

“Well, I’ll keep my mouth shut then” he chuckled “My wife is not someone who makes empty threats”

“Well, she and I have that in common” Rayla said

“I still haven’t seen this side of you yet” Callum added

“Keep testin’ my patience and you will soon meet her” she smirked at him and Callum only smiled at her

“Have you ever tried jelly tarts Rayla?” Ezran asked

“Not really”

Ezran gasped audibly

“We need to change that!” he jumped from his chair and raced to the kitchen, returning shortly with a plate full of jelly tarts, Sarai not far behind him

They all sat in comfortable silence, eating their food with small smiles before Harrow spoke up

“So, you’ve never told us how you met Rayla, Callum. Do you two share any classes together?”

“No, we study in complete opposite buildings” Callum simply said “Rayla is in the basketball team of the university with Soren”

“Didn’t know you were into basketball… or any sport at all” Ezran said, which earned a small laugh from Rayla

“Haha, very funny” Callum glared at his brother “Anyway, I met Rayla not on a basketball game, but through Soren and Claudia”

“I see.” His dad said “So what do you study, Rayla?”

“I’m majoring in forensic science with a minor in law enforcement”

“A woman of the law I see?” Sarai chuckled “My sister, Amaya is also a graduate in law enforcement” Rayla smiled at her and warmed Callum’s heart

It took a few minutes, but Callum saw Ezran sneaking some glances at his phone. It was easy to guess who he was texting. The years of teasing about his crush on Claudia were going to be paid, one by one

“So, mom, dad…” Callum started, a smirk on his lips “Since when does Ezran have a crush on Ellis? I need to get up to date” He saw the way Ezran went pale. His parents looked at each other with a knowing smile

“Oh! So you did see her?” Harrow asked “that was the gossip I told you about!” he chuckled and Ezran turned to him

“You were going to tell Callum about it?” he immediately covered his mouth, realizing he just admitted to the _crush_ part

“It wouldn’t take long for him to discover, Ezran” Sarai answered, “Almost every afternoon you’re either at her place or she comes here!” Ezran hid his face in his hands with a groan

“I think it’s cute!” Rayla said “young love is one of the purest forms of love! At least, that’s what my parents used to say” Ezran only groaned more

* * *

The evening ended on a positive note, Rayla even tasted for the first time the jelly tarts and was absolutely thrilled and devasted to know she spent the last almost 20 years without it

When she met Bait, it was the highlight of his evening. He croaked at her and changed to the same violet as her eyes and she almost squealed. It was almost too cute for him too handle

Bait was also unusually friendly towards her, letting her hold him without biting her. Callum remembers it took months of spoiling the toad before he let him do it. It was unbelievable

Rayla also asked for Ezran’s number, saying that he was obligated now to send her at least one picture of Bait everyday

Before he knew it, the evening was over and all his family was on the front porch, bidding their goodbyes

“Goodbye, Callum” his dad said as he hugged him, but quickly released “take care out there, alright?” Callum nodded and turned to hug Ezran, both not saying anything besides sharing a warm smile

Finally, he went forward to hug his mom

“Visit more, okay?” she said before whispering into his ear “also, make sure to open up your heart to this girl. She’s a catch”

His face continued red all the trip back to his car, the words from his mom resonating in his head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I imagine Ezran and Ellis having a little crush on each other when they’re teenagers. What are you gonna do? Sue me? ~~(Please don’t, I don’t have the money for it)~~  
>  **Up Next:** Callum and Rayla drive back, but they stop to talk


	11. The stars lean down to kiss you

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Half of the story is done! We're getting there people!

** Chapter Eleven - The stars lean down to kiss you **

Callum parked his car near the 24/7 store. Even though he and Rayla had dinner at his parent’s house, it was an almost one and half hour drive back to their university. He would need something to keep him awake, especially since it was almost midnight and they still had about 40 minutes of road to cover

“You want something from the store?” he asked Rayla when he noticed her eyes were almost dropping

“Yes, but I’ll go with ya. Don’t want ya spendin’ money on me”

“Come on, you deserve it. You had to endure my parents the whole evening”

“Meh,” she said, shrugging her shoulders “It wasn’t that bad. Your dad’s jokes are actually fun. Ethari’s puns are way worse” she had a smile on her face “but back to my point, ya are not spendin’ your money on me. I work for it and I will use it” she grabbed her purse, her smile turning into a teasing smirk

Callum rolled his eyes at her and opened the car door, Rayla following his suit

They entered the store found it almost completely empty. A couple of people were scattered around grabbing some things. The cashier was on their phone, without a care in the world

Callum dashed for the refrigerators on the side of the store and grabbed some soda. It wasn’t his usual coffee, but it would be enough to keep him awake to make it back home

Rayla grabbed an energy drink some nutrition bars

Soon they were out of the store with their purchases

“Wanna hit the road now or stop to eat these?” Callum asked as they approached his car

“We can just get out of here and stop in a better place to do so” She suggested and he nodded back, getting into the car

* * *

They stopped near a cliff on the road. Well, it was a cliff, but it had a fence around the edge, so no one would fall, but it was a cliff nonetheless. It faced the sea. Callum wasn’t the biggest fan of beaches and from what he gathered of conversations with Rayla, she never ever went to the beach after she was 6. Something about an incident with water. He didn’t quite pressure her to talk about it

But, when they leaned over the fence, their drinks in hand, they had to admit it was a gorgeous sight. It was a clear night sky, the almost half-moon reflection on the water and illuminating them

Once again he saw how she looked under the moonlight. Most people wouldn’t receive such an effect just because a celestial body was reflecting light into their skin, but with Rayla was different

One week ago, he had noticed how her hair glowed under it, but as he stood beside her, facing the moon, he noticed that her eyes sparkled and her skin almost had an ethereal glow. _She was beautiful_

“What? Who’s beautiful?” she asked her face turned to him, full of confusion. He was too for a second before he realized he had voiced his thoughts

“Uh… the moon! It's beautiful!” _Nice one Callum, really smooth_

“Ya’re right. It is beautiful…” she sighed with a faint smile

They eventually settled in a comfortable silence. The waves of the sea and the wind being the only music they had

He snuck another glance at Rayla. The wind making her hair move, her arm laying over the fence while the other was busy holding the drink in her hand

He made sure to record that image in his memory. Definitely one that was going to his sketchbook

“Are ya comin’ for our next game on Monday?” she asked him, not bothering to take her eyes off the moon

“Yeah! Why do you ask?”

“Nothin’” her face had a slight frown and she took another sip of her drink and finally throwing it away in the trash can by her side. She was hiding something

“Rayla…” he insisted

“What?!”

“You’re hiding something from me. I thought I made you understand that you could tell me anything”

“Fine” she let out an annoyed sigh “It’s my dads. They’re not goin’ to make it for the game. They said they are goin’ to be workin’ on somethin’ and that hurt me” she closed her eyes with a pained expression

“Did they say what they were going to be working on?”

“No. I mean, they tried to explain to me, but I was so hurt after they told me that they weren’t makin’ to it, I wasn’t able to properly hear their explanation” he could see that she was not just emotionally hurt, but physically too. She was trying hard to fight back her feelings from spilling and it was hurting her

“Is it selfish? To want them there to support me even if that meant that they would lose something important about their work?” she continued and Callum saw how some tears were starting to form around her eyes when she finally opened them “Am I a bad person? I always complain about so much in my life, even though they’re not real problems. I joke around sayin’ that they are real problems, but deep down I know that I can’t complain. So many more people have real problems and they don’t complain all the time”

Callum’s hand came up to her face and he wiped away a few stray tears that were spilling. Her eyes were open as if she hadn’t noticed she was crying up to that point

“You’re not a bad person, Rayla. You are allowed to have feelings and crave attention from your dads” he put a strand of her glowing hair behind her ear, lightly brushing her cheek “You can think whatever you want about yourself, I still see you as what you are”

She scoffed with a smile, but the blush on her cheeks clearly indicated that she was a little embarrassed and was trying to play it cool

“And what would that be?”

“Well, you’re smart, and fast and” the moon was there to remind him of his next words “ _beautiful_ ” he breathed, his face warming

The world seemed to stop, neither of them doing something. Rayla seemed genuinely surprised by his words, the blush on her cheeks getting darker by second, her gorgeous eyes widened slightly and her lips slightly parted in surprise

Something was going on with him. Now, all that he wanted was to just close the mere inches between them and kiss not only her tears away like he wanted a few days ago, but also her nose, her forehead, her temple and of course, her lips

Before he could dwell on those thoughts, she parted from him, the hand that was on her cheek was now tingling because of the absence of her skin

“I-I think ya’re all those things too, Callum.” she said, avoiding his gaze awkwardly “although, I would describe ya as cute. Your baby pictures did a number on me” she smirked, her cheeks still red

“What?” he raised a brow, the spell she had put on him a few seconds ago shattered completely

“While you were busy teasing Ez, your mom took me to the kitchen and showed me your pictures and you weren’t kiddin’ when ya said about most of them having your baby butt exposed”

His face flared up and he groaned deeply while she laughed

They enjoyed the next few minutes and eventually went back to the car

He was ready to drive away and go back to his life away from that cliff, the moon and the unusual thoughts he was having regarding her

* * *

Callum left Rayla at her dorm at about 1 am. He was just glad it wasn’t a school day, he would never forgive himself if he made Rayla lose sleep because of him

When he finally entered his apartment, he immediately fell on his couch with a sigh. He should really get some sleep, but thoughts about Rayla were racing through his head

He should get some art of her done. Maybe that would help him settle down and finally sleep

Grabbing his sketchbook, he opened a new blank page and grabbed his pencil

Quickly, Rayla’s silhouette started to take form, over the fence and facing the moon, trying to forget how hurt she was

He finished in record time, but his mind still screamed her name

He advanced to the next page and quickly started to sketch her again. This time, it was her face and the same expression she had done when he called her beautiful. He felt his face warming as he drew every detail of her, although, like with his mom, he would never be able to convey how she truly looked at that time

Before he knew he was drawing something different, something that didn’t happen at any time in that conversation, but somewhere in the back of his mind he wished it would have happened

A kiss

He closed his sketchbook as he noticed what he was doing and almost threw it away

Yeah, he definitely needed his sleep. In the morning, he would be able to sort everything out

_Hopefully_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It’s a little shorter than usual, hopefully, you guys can forgive me for that lol  
> Anyways, I posted an Ezris one-shot yesterday! It’s part of this universe. It won’t really affect the main story, but I had a blast writing it so if you’re interested, [give it a read!](https://archiveofourown.org/works/23532982)


	12. I'd send a postcard to you, dear

** Chapter Twelve - I'd send a postcard to you, dear **

“We’re sticking with last week’s immediate team” the coach explained and the whole team nodded silently “The Del Bar’s Dragons have the reputation of saving efforts from the last two rounds and they usually win using this strategy. With that said, we have two options: We can go home and hand the trophy to them or give everything we have on the first two rounds and give the double on the last two, making it really hard for them to catch up with us. So, who chooses to do the first option?” no one raised their hands “And who chooses to go with the second one?” everyone raised their hands, including Rayla “So it's settled. Let’s go out there and send those dragons home!”

The walk to the court was supposed to be uneventful, but as she was turning the corner behind her whole team, someone grabbed her wrist

Rayla was no stranger to self-defense, so when she felt someone grab her, she didn’t look back and turned the tables on them, pressing them against the nearest wall, her forearm against their chest and the other above their head holding both of their hands in place. Everything she learned from Runaan about self-defense worked perfectly, with only one problem

As she toughly stared at the person whom she trapped, she immediately was met with those emerald eyes she was getting used to drowning herself into this past week

Callum was staring at her, his lips parted in surprise and eyes widened. Neither of them saying a single thing

 _“Rayla, what the hell are you doing back he-”_ Soren’s voice came and his _dumb_ head popped around the corner, clearly losing his words when she saw them

Just then Rayla noticed how compromising their positions were. She was literally holding Callum against a wall, his hands pinned above his head, faces 2 inches or so from another

“Wow, uh…” Soren said awkwardly, which was weird “I’ll leave you two to… whatever you were doing” he quickly left, leaving the pair

Rayla quickly let go of Callum’s hands

“Sorry, Callum. I got self-defense instincts and when ya grabbed my wrist, they kicked in”

“Don’t worry” he was slightly flushed “I shouldn’t have grabbed your wrist like that. I should be the one apologizing” he straightened his coat but no looking directly at her

They stayed in silence for a few moments before Rayla tried to break the tension

“This must be a record for ya, huh?”

“What?”

“It’s the second week you actually come to a sports game. You must really like it” she teased with a smirk and he rolled his eyes playfully at her

“Though it’s growing on me, I like something better” he said and clasped his mouth shut

“What is it?”

“I like…” he stopped for a moment before continuing “seeing everyone happy. Everyone gathering to cheer for the people who represent their university and getting to cry if they lose or celebrate if they win. It’s a nice feeling”

“But that is a thing in common with all sports, why chose basketball? Soren commented that last week was your first time seeing an actual game”

“I like to cheer when you’re a part of it” her heart skipped a beat “also Soren is on the team and if he saw that I wasn’t cheering for him, he would be pouting at me for a whole hour and we can’t have that”

They both laughed

“Anyway, I’m just here to wish you good luck. Those Del Bar guys seem kinda tough, but I’m sure you can kick their asses”

“I’m on a team, Callum” she rolled her eyes playfully at him and put her hands on her hips

“I know that! But I’m sure you’re going to play brilliantly on the court once again” he smiled at her and she felt her cheeks warming up.

Tearing away from his gaze, she looked to the floor as he continued

“Also, you mentioned your dads weren’t coming so I wanted to give you this” he wrapped his arms around her and her whole skin was frying under his touch

Even so, she wrapped her arms around him and rested her head on his shoulder before quickly separating, already missing his warmth

“Thanks, Callum. I needed that”

“Anytime you need a hug, I’m here for you” she released a breath she didn’t notice she was holding

“I gotta go, but can we talk after the game?”

“Under that tree behind the gymnasium?”

“Aye!” she answered excitedly and he nodded before walking away

When Rayla and her team entered the court, she found him all alone in the crowd, Claudia was nowhere to be seen, but he was smiling and looking at her

When they had their 15-minute break, she saw him deep into the wonders of his sketchbook, his face adorably scrunched up as he drew something, deep down she was hoping it would be her

When they finally won against Del Bar, Callum was with the people who cheered for her

And she would never admit, but her heart did flutter when she saw what he was sketching during the break, no surprises for the back of her mind though. It was her once again

Although, she noticed that he had torn off a page after a sketch of her in the cliff on Saturday. When she asked about it, he said he feel asleep while drawing and his drool messed up the whole page and he ripped off, saying it wasn’t a very good drawing anyway

Rayla was good when telling people were lying. Callum was definitely lying to her, but she didn’t press the subject. Maybe there was another reason for it, but he preferred not to tell her and she would respect that

They didn’t get to talk much since Rayla was complaining about her muscles being sore, but he asked if they could video chat tomorrow and of course, she answered yes. Even though she didn’t feel like there was much to talk about, she was sure they could find something to do

They both shared a quick hug and went on their ways. Callum to his apartment, Rayla to her dorm

* * *

Rayla entered her dorm, her shoulders still aching from the game. She could use a cold shower and some sleep

She tried to focus on the good side, even though her shoulders were going to be in pain for the next day, they won against Del Bar! They were going to the third and last but one phase. Two games away from victory, hopefully

As she eyed the stairs that led to the second floor of the dorm, she noticed that her RA was looking around, with some papers in her hands. As soon as her eyes settled on Rayla, she walked over to her with a big smile

“Rayla! You got mail this afternoon. They said you were in the gymnasium all day preparing for the game, so I chose to wait for you”

“Mail?” In her almost 20 years of existence, she never received mail. What was going on? “Well, thank ya” she grabbed the letter in the elder woman’s hands and eyed the front of the envelope and surely, there it was her name and the address of her dorm

She didn’t bother to look on the back and waved a quick goodbye to her RA, going upstairs to her room. She would have a look at it better after she took her shower and changed from the smelly and sweaty jersey

* * *

Rayla brushed her hair delicately as she gazed into the mirror inside her room. She was wearing her pajamas and the letter in her desk was giving her anxiety

_She should open it_

Sighing deeply, she put the brush on the table beside the letter before grabbing it

Turning the letter she finally saw who was mailing her

Her parents

Her face paled almost instantly and hurriedly opened the letter

She started reading, top to the bottom

_Dear Rayla_

_This is your mom, writing to you. It’s been a while, hasn’t it? We recently talked with Ethari and Runaan and we were happy to know about recent life accomplishments. Entering a big University like Xadia is an incredible feat! We also got the news of you entering the basketball team! We always knew you were destined for greatness_

_I know me and your dad haven’t been the perfect parents for you and we know nothing we ever do will bring back the years we spent apart, but I’m glad to know that Ethari and Runaan raised my little girl to become the woman she was always destined to be and we have a wish for you to share your next accomplishments not only with your friends and your foster dads but with me and your dad too._

_Which brings me to the real reason I’m writing this letter!_

Her eyes almost bulged out of her skull when she read the next paragraph

 _“We’re happy to say that we’re finally headin’ home”_ She said it aloud as if her mind couldn’t quite process what she was reading

_Our boss’s family is finally changing the team that works with them, which includes me and your dad. Although we are sad about leaving our position, we can’t wait to finally reunite with the most special girl in our lives: you_

_Stay well, my dear. We’ll be arriving soon_

_Your mom, who loves you very much_

_Tiadrin_

Rayla’s hands gripped the page tightly, some tears falling on the sheet of paper

She thought she would be mad when she finally got a response from her parents after all these years, but now? She only felt longing and relief

They were finally coming back to her

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Congrats everyone who guessed Lain and Tiadrin were coming back lol  
>  **Up Next:** Rayla ponders about life


	13. I lie awake and miss you

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some ATLA references in this chapter because I can and I am also biased for this series, enjoy!  
> Also, I’m so sorry if the chapters are getting so small, I’ve hit a writing block recently and can’t seem to write anything bigger than 2k of words. I’m sorry if I’m letting you guys down with my inconsistency, I swear when I finally get out of it, I’ll write a chapter of 3k or more words just for you guys,,,

** Chapter Thirteen - I lie awake and miss you **

“What are ya eatin’?” Rayla asked as she saw Callum plop a fork of something in his mouth through the webcam

 _“Oh,”_ he looked down, probably at his plate _“spaghetti. I made some for dinner and it turned out really good for my first try”_

“Is there anythin’ ya are not good?” she rolled her eyes

 _“The pot is calling the kettle black”_ he said a playful smirk on his lips and she narrowed her eyes at him with faux-pout before smiling at him. He put the fork back into his mouth and quickly set it down before getting up with the plate _“I’m gonna put this in the sink, okay?” s_ he nodded even though he wasn’t looking

She heard some clatter and some water running a few feet away before stopping and he returns back to his seat in front of his laptop

_“So, you said you had some news?”_

“Yeah” she started, putting a hand under her chin “it’s about my parents”

_“Which ones?”_

“Biological” she sighed “I received news from them yesterday when I got back from the game”

_“Really?”_

“Yeah, it kinda startled me at first because they wrote me a letter. I know their boss is strict with outside communication because Ethari and Runaan told me that a few years ago, but really? The only way you can contact someone is by _letters_?”

 _“That’s pretty outdated if I do say so myself”_ she only nodded _“so what did the letter say?”_

“It was written by my mom. It started by sayin’ that they heard about my acceptance into Xadia, the basketball team and that they were very proud of me”

 _“They should”_ Rayla felt her neck heating up at the compliment but brushed off

“The biggest news is that their boss is changing the whole team who works for him and my parents are a part of it, which means my parents are comin’ back and which means I’m seeing them again after almost 8 years and they are here to stay”

 _“Wow Rayla that’s…”_ he stopped for a moment _“how are you dealing with the news?”_

“I thought I would get angry at first. Thought I would never want to see them again, a part of me thought I wouldn’t recognize them if I ever saw them again but…”

_“But…?”_

“But I didn’t. I felt… relief? Joy? I still don’t know what I truly felt at the moment. It was very confusin’ but I do know it was positive”

_“That’s good right?”_

Rayla stopped for a few seconds, closing her eyes and opening them a couple of seconds later

“Yeah,” she said confidently, “they said that they knew that they weren’t being the best parents in the world by leaving me to fulfill their careers and that they knew that bein’ with me now wouldn’t erase their absence, but they were willin’ to be by my side the rest of my life and create new memories. I can’t be mad at that”

_“But if you did though, you would be totally right in my book”_

“Thanks, that’s sweet” she smiled at him “wait, was this a _big feelings time_ and I did it without noticin’?”

 _“I mean, you did let out what you were feeling about your parents so I guess? I didn’t realize it either”_ he shrugged his shoulders and they feel in silence for a few seconds before Callum broke it _“Do you still want to do that Netflix watch party?”_

“Duh!” she smiled at him “What you got for me today, sad prince?”

 _“You haven’t used that one in a while”_ he commented with a smirk _“Have you ever watched Avatar?”_

“The movie?”

 _“Gods, no Rayla!”_ his eyes widened _“You almost offend me with suggesting that. I mean Avatar: The Last Airbender!”_

“Oh! I did watch some episodes on my TV when I was a kid, but I never really watched the whole series”

 _“That’s definitely a sin, but we’re cleansing that today”_ Rayla saw his face scrunch up as he tapped his keyboard. It was _adorable_

While he was busy creating the party, Rayla started paying attention to his mannerisms, the slight pout when he was busy drawing showed here, the cute furrow of his brows, his emerald eyes totally shining with the light of his window. She sighed and put one hand under her chin, feeling a smile creep to her face with her heated cheeks

 _“Rayla?”_ he said and snapping her out of her trance, even though she had to control herself from not melting on the way she said her name _“Did you receive the link of the party or not?”_ she looked at the chatbox and there it was. Her cheeks flared up in embarrassment

“Oh! Yeah! I’ll join!” she quickly scrambled to hide her blush and join the watch but she managed it. “Okay, I’m in” she saw Callum nod in the minimized screen and finally hit play

_“Water. Earth. Fire. Air”_

-

The video paused when the last episode of Book One ended

They were lucky she didn’t have to work today and they could start the video chat earlier than last week because when they realized, it was almost 2 am and they had classes in about 7 hours

But that didn’t phase Rayla. Her mind was racing two hundred miles per hour

_“So, what do you think?”_

“What do I think?! This was awesome! The battle from the last episode? Hell yeah!”

_“I’m glad you enjoyed it, but it only gets better. Also, that’s not even the best battle in the series in my humble opinion. It’s in my top 3, but it’s not the best”_

“Well, I’ll have to see it for myself to really judge it” she stopped for a few moments before continuing “Can’t believe Sokka lost Yue. That was depressin’”

_“Sure was”_

“Ya got me hyped for the next seasons Callum, congratulations” she smiled, rolling her eyes

 _“Thank you, I knew you’d like it because if you didn’t, we wouldn’t be able to be friends”_ she laughed _“So are we doin’ this again?”_

“Yeah! Maybe this weekend? It's gettin’ kinda late”

 _“Alrighty then.”_ The still image disappeared from her screen, meaning that Callum had ended the party _“Before we go in our separate ways-”_

“That’s a dorky way to say that we are going to end the video chat” she smirked

 _“Let me finish”_ he cleared his throat _“Claudia and Soren and I are hanging out this Friday. They asked me to invite you”_

“Couldn’t they have asked me instead of asking you?”

 _“I don’t get it too,”_ he shrugged his shoulders and laid back on his chair _“but they said that I somehow would be able to convince you if you didn’t wanna go”_

“Well, that’s stupid. Ya know if I didn’t want to go, no one would be able to convince me otherwise”

 _“That’s what I said! They said you can’t say no to me or some shit”_ he sighed in defeat as Rayla raised her eyebrows _“Anyways, do you wanna go or not?”_

“Sure! Hangin’ out with ya is always nice” The way his eyes glistened at her words and his cheeks gained a pretty shade of pink made her heart skip a few beats.

_“That’s nice to hear, Rayla”_

“Well, I need to pay back the compliments ya said to me on Saturday” she was joking but part of her knew it was true. She saw how Callum flushed and his whole face went beet red. It was an adorable sight

 _“S-So we should go now, it’s 2 am now and we have class!”_ his voice was a little high due to his embarrassment and she had to control some giggles from spilling

“Alright now, goodnight sad prince”

 _“Goodnight Ray”_ her heart seemed to stop and the call finished

No one ever dared to shorten her name, because they knew they would receive a fist to their face. Even Soren didn’t dare to do that after the first threat

But it seemed different with Callum. Not only she didn’t feel like punching him when seeing him again, but she liked it and didn’t find the strength to deny his nickname

Maybe Soren and Claudia were right. _Maybe she wasn’t capable of saying no to him_

She groaned and dug the heels of her palms in her eyes

She was already over the fact that something was going on with her, she just needed to understand _what it was_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I heard a while back that the Netflix from the USA doesn’t have Avatar. I’m truly sorry for that folks  
>  **Up next:** Claudia schemes and Soren almost fucks everything up


	14. It takes two to whisper quietly

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still with a bit of writing block, but I’m making progress! This is the first 2k words chapter I wrote since entering the writing block! Hooray for me <3

** Chapter Fourteen -  ** ** It takes two to whisper quietly **

Callum straightened his hair for what it felt to be the fortieth time that evening. His reflection in the mirror seemed to be mocking him. Every time he changed the hair, it looked worse than it did before

“Callum, your normal hair is fine!” Claudia said she peeked into the bathroom “I don’t know why you’re so nervous about it. It’s just a normal outing between your oldest friends and your newest friend” she came forward and eliminated the disaster he was doing with his hair in an instant “Don’t worry yourself too much” her hands where now on his shoulders and she gave them a light squeeze with a smile and he breathed out his worries

“Okay” he simply said “Thanks, Claudia”

“No worries, now let’s change some things about your outfit” her fingers opened two of the golden buttons of his burgundy shirt “Open some of these, okay? You don’t wanna die of asphyxiation today” she took a step back, eyed him top to bottom deep in thought before snapping her fingers rapidly “Roll up your sleeves!” she demanded

“Wait, why-”

“Just do it, I know what I am doing!” he sighed and rolled up both of sleeves to his elbows “Perfect” she nodded, probably more to herself than to him

“Was this really necessary? I am going to use my coat anyway!”

“Shush! The final say is mine and mine only!” Callum groaned

“Can we leave? Now?” she nodded sharply, turning around to leave the small room that it was his bathroom

Soren was laying on his couch and the sound of footsteps startled him

“Wow… Who’s that? Does Callum have a more fashionable twin that he hides on his shower?”

“Haha, funny” he rolled his eyes

“Think fast, Sor-bear” Claudia shouted and tossed his car keys to him and hitting him on the face, emitting a groan of pain from him. Callum suppressed his laugh as he saw the red mark on his face and they headed out his apartment

Next stop: Rayla’s dorm

-

“Now, do what we planned and find her in there Callum” Claudia demanded. They were in front of the dorm, the car parked not far from them in the nearest street

“Remind me again why him? Shouldn’t you? You’re a girl- OW!” Claudia elbowed him in the ribs and glared at him

“Callum knows where Rayla’s room is. It’s way easier than me entering and looking for her RA and finally going to find her room” she explained

“I really don’t have a say in this?” Callum protested

“No, now shush! Go” he narrowed his eyes at her before huffing and going into the building

The hallways were busy and he could hear talking coming from other rooms, but it was significantly different from the last time he was here. No one was whispering about his presence and he was glad for that

Going up the stairs, he quickly looked around and found room 213. _Rayla’s room._

Going up to the door, he knocked lightly on the door and put his hands on his coat pockets, feeling his throat tight all of a sudden. Did he need to undo more buttons of his shirt? Why was he feeling like he had a knot on-

The door swung open before his eyes

Rayla was standing there and he suddenly felt more difficulty to breath than before

Rayla had her white hair up in a high ponytail, a few strands loose framing her face. She was wearing a deep teal dress with two layers of fabric. The opaque one ended on her thighs, with the translucent teal fabric right on top of the other, a few patterns sew into it using golden and silver thread and finally ending on her knees. Accompanying the dress, a brown shoulder bag, and purple flats and a small violet ribbon wrapped around her neck that matched her eyes

Her face seemed different and for a second Callum couldn’t process what it was until he noticed that her cheeks and lips were a little rosier than the usual. _Rayla was wearing makeup_

“Ya clean up nice” she remarked with a smirk as he processed the information that was going through his head, continuing in silence “Y’know, when people make compliments to other people, usually the other person says somethin’ back” his mind snapped back to reality

“Oh! Hm, you look great! Awesome! So pretty and-”

“A simple ‘ya too’ would’ve been enough” she remarked with a smile before rolling her eyes to him “but, uh,” her cheeks became a deep pink due to the makeup on her cheeks and the natural blush of her cheeks “thank you. For the compliments” she smiled at him and his heart seemed to jump on his ribcage

As they headed down the stairs, side by side, he heard some whispering. He didn’t have the best hearing in the world but he was sure he caught the word _date_ between their whispers. He preferred to ignore those and focus on what was real. This was just an outing between four friends just like it was supposed to be on that fateful Friday two weeks ago. Nothing had changed, except the fact that they knew each other way better now

Claudia and Soren complimented Rayla in her outfit, making Rayla blush as she sat besides Callum in the passenger's seat, but she quickly recovered as they all talked about their day, Soren remarking that he couldn’t wait for Monday’s game and have a chance to kick Neolandia’s team in their asses

The conversation definitely helped take his mind off the fact that his heart was thrumming every time their fingers so much brushed against each other

He would need some time to recompose before they get there

-

The ice cream parlor was fairly simple. An inside area accompanied by an outdoor area with flowers and vines climbing up the walls, paper lanterns decorating the area and few garden decorations complimenting the aesthetic of the place

Callum and Rayla exited the car, him helping her not fall into the curb of the street

He then noticed that Claudia and Soren were still in the car

“Aren’t you guys coming in?”

“Don’t worry Callum!” Claudia said as she lowered the glass of the window “Soren and I are just going to find somewhere to park the car and come back!”

“Hey, Clauds, but that’s not what- STOP ELBOWING ME” Soren shouted without finishing his previous sentence

“You two can go on without us! We’ll be right back!” without missing a beat she raised the glass and the car was gone from the street

“Well, wanna go in?” Rayla asked and he simply nodded

The parlor smelled like vanilla and chocolate, even though there were a lot of more flavors to order

They sat across from each other in a secluded table for four in the inside area

Callum eyed the blackboard on the opposite wall with the specials and his eyes caught a bunch of hearts surrounding a drawing of a dessert cup with ice cream inside, a _couple’s only_ special. Significantly cheaper than two individual cups even though it was bigger and had more in it

He felt Rayla’s feet lightly kick his calf and he turned to face her

“What flavor are ya goin’ to order?”

“I think I have an ideia, but I’m not telling you yet” he said with a playful smile and she rolled her eyes playfully at him and her eyes drifted to the blackboard he was just looking before she went for the usual menu that was laying on the table

 _“Well well, look who’s here!”_ a voice said and he didn’t quite recognize it, but he saw Rayla did by the way her eyes widened and her brows furrowed. He looked up to see the stranger

It was a tall woman with almost grey skin, different colored eyes, and short hair that changed from black roots to cyan, blue and finally white. She was wearing the parlor’s uniform and the small metal plate attached to her collar read a name…

“Nyx!” Rayla said, the words dragging through her gritted teeth

“Hey Rayla, how is your evenin’ goin’?”

“It was way better before ya appeared and ruined it”

“Ya shouldn’t treat your roommates like this, y’know” she shrugged her shoulders “but it’s your fault for choosing the parlor I work on every business day of every week from 2pm to 10pm”

“I hate this place” she mumbled

“So…” she went to one of the counters near the blackboard and grabbed a card, going back to the table they were sitting, a smirk sitting on her lips “I am not sure if you guys needed two individual orders or just one” she let out a snark before presenting the card with all the combinations possible for the _couple’s only_ special. He and Rayla took a moment to process the suggestion before they both flushed deeply

“TWO!” Callum said, his voice higher than he planned. He noticed how Rayla twirled one of the loose strands framing her face around her finger while she avoided his gaze “Yeah! Two! Because if it was just one, then-”

“TWO!” Rayla shouted and he felt a stronger kick in his leg this time, obviously telling him to shut up while she glared harshly at Nyx who was just standing there with a smirk and wiggling her brows at them

“Suit yourselves” she took the card away from them, putting it back on the shelf where it was a few moments ago. Rayla was still avoiding his gaze, but he didn’t have time to try to gain her attention as Nyx quickly came back to get their real _and individual_ orders.

The time passed and the orders finally arrived and Rayla finally addressed the elephant in the room

“So, where’s Claudia and Soren?” he was a little surprised because those were the first words that came out of her mouth directed at him after the fiasco with Nyx

“I don’t know”

“Can’t ya just call Claudia or Soren? They’re takin’ too long with parkin’ that car” she plopped the small spoon with her moonberry ice cream into her mouth, which was a little distracting to Callum but he was managing

“I guess I can do that” he tucked his phone out of his pocket and called Claudia’s phone number, knowing if Soren was still driving, for some reason, he wouldn’t be able to pick up

The phone rang, rang and Callum almost felt like it was going straight to voicemail but she finally picked up

 _“Hey, Callum~”_ she said in a sing-song voice that made Callum a little suspicious

“Uh, hey Claudia,” he started, his voice a little strained and he hoped she wouldn’t notice “so, did you and Soren find somewhere to park the car?”

_“No”_

“So, you’re still looking for it?” he saw how Rayla silently groaned before digging for more ice cream

 _“No”_ Claudia simply said and his eyebrows shot up and his eyes widen. Rayla immediately saw it and silently mouthed _put it on the speaker_ and he did, putting on the center of the table, before continuing his questions, more suspicious than ever

“What do you mean _with no, you’re not looking for somewhere to park the car?_ ”

_“I mean that we’re going home and giving you two privacy on a real date!”_

“WHAT?!” They both shouted and they were just glad the secluded table allowed them from being hidden from curious eyes

 _“So it’s on the speaker, huh?”_ Claudia snorted before continuing _“Rayla, Callum, take all the time you want and I’ll pay an Uber to take you both home when you’re done. Now I gotta go”_

“Claudia if ya hang up on us I swear I’ll-” Rayla started, grabbing the phone from where it was on the table almost knocking over both of their ice creams

 _“Bye!”_ the call ended, leaving both of them shocked. Rayla was red, he didn’t know if it was from anger, embarrassment or both. She finally let go of his phone, hiding her face in her hands. He was silent

“I wanna go home” she simply said and Callum swore he heard what it seemed to be a small sob

When her hands fell from her face, her whole makeup was smudged

“I didn’t mean to make it look like this is a date. I should’ve settled for something more casual. This wouldn’t have happened if I wasn’t so foolish” her small sob turned into bigger ones and before he knew, he realized she was crying quietly, her hands holding her arms.

Callum’s heart broke as he watched her cry in front of him for the second time the week. He got up from his seat and sat on the chair beside her, holding her against his chest as she cried, his hand rubbing small circles on her back.

Eventually, the sobs finally stopped, but she continued holding him tightly. He didn’t care if his shirt was now wet with tears and that Nyx di probably see Rayla against his chest and was probably overthinking everything. He didn’t care. He just wanted Rayla to be okay

“Callum” she said, her head still against his chest

“Yes?”

“Can ya let me go, now? I think I feel better” she mumbled and he finally let her go

“Do you wanna blow this popsicle stand now?” he asked and she let out a small laugh

“Definitely. Let’s pay our orders and get out”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don’t worry, the next chapter picks up from here  
>  **Up Next:** Post-date shenanigans, realizations part 1 of 2


	15. Waist deep in thought

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was excited for this chapter so it's a little earlier than the usual  
> I hope you guys like it!

** Chapter Fifteen - Waist deep in thought **

“I wan’ say I am sorry” Nyx said as Rayla and Callum grabbed their wallets. They both looked up to see her. She didn’t have her usual smirk, her eyes were dropping and she refused meeting their eyes

“Ya should. We made it clear last week that nothin’ was goin’ between us. I thought ya got the memo”

“Well, a lot can change in one week alone, I would know that” she trailed off. Callum thought it was better to not know what that meant. She took their money and putting inside the cash register. As they got their change and turned away, Nyx said “What? No tip?”

Rayla simply turned her head at her direction, shooting an icy glare

“I suppose that’s fair” she said before turning back to look at her phone

Callum and Rayla exited the parlor, Rayla’s hands were holding onto her shoulder bag as she stayed in silence

“You want me to call Claudia now or…?” he asked. Claudia said she would pay an Uber to take them both home to maybe apologize for her set up. Callum wasn’t sure he would be able to forgive Claudia so easily. The image of Rayla crying was burning him emotionally, but he had to be strong for her

“I need some time” she admitted, her voice still a little shaky and raspy “Can we have a walk before that?”

He nodded. How could he refuse something like that for her?

* * *

They finally stopped their walk near a public fountain a few blocks away from the parlor. The coins that were deep into the water reflected due the moonshine and the light poles where moths danced around the alluring light

He sat with Rayla on the white edge and he noticed how it had little sparkles that were glistening under the light of the moon. His finger brushed on the sparkled surface and his finger was glistening

“Moonstone shards”

“Huh?” he turned his face to her

“This material has moonstone shards in it. It’s a very delicate process and it gives this sparkly effect when under the moonlight and the moonlight only” she explained, showing part of her palm who had the same glistening effect too

“You seem to know a lot about this” he teased her as he blew the sparkles of his finger

“I like the moon, what can I say?” she shrugged her shoulders, “Ya said it yourself last week, it’s beautiful”

Rayla yawned, her eyes dropping slightly

“Did you sleep last night? It’s not even 9pm yet” he chuckled at her sleepy state

“For the record, I didn’t” she scowled “I forgot I had an essay to write for Mrs. Faith and I stayed up all night writin’ it”

“Why did you forget to do the essay?”

The question made her cheeks get red and she fidgeted with the end of her dress

“I… I hade someo-” she cleared her throat “I had somethin’ else in mind”

“Your parents?”

“Yes! Exactly! My parents!” she said shooting finger guns at him, her voice high and pitched

“They arrive next week, right?”

“Yeah, more specifically on Wednesday”

“Are you going to see them on the same day?”

“No… only on Saturday” her brows furrowed “Which, if we win against Neolandia on Monday, will be the day before the final game”

“You guys are really close to winning”

“Yeah, that’s why I can’t lose my focus now” she yawned again and Callum did too “Gettin’ tired too?”

“Actually I only yawned because you did. It's involuntary” he smiled

“I know that” she smirked and her eyes dropped again. He didn’t bother with that. She definitely deserved some rest

He pulled out his phone and decided to respond to Claudia’s texts

_Claudia [8:12 pm] hey you two okay_

_Claudia [8:12 pm] i got info that you guys already left the parlor_

_Claudia [8:14 pm] Callum??_

_Claudia [8:17 pm] wtf just answer pls_

“Who ya’re textin’?” Rayla said, her voice sleepy

“Claudia is kinda desperate because I didn’t answer her texts”

“Good riddance”

“Are you mad at them?” He asked “Claudia and Soren?”

She let out an exasperated sigh

“I’m not mad at them in particular, I’m mad at the whole situation. Me dressin’ this fancy” she motioned to her teal dress “for just an outin’ probably helped Nyx confuse everythin’”

“But didn’t that waitress, when we were at that café two weeks ago also think we were a couple?” he remembered

“Callum, I don’t remember every little detail of that evenin’, Callum”

“Ouch!” he put his hand over his heart and faked a pout “How can you not remember every little detail of the evening we first met! I feel betrayed” he put his other hand on his forehead and Rayla laughed, lightly pushing him

“Such a dramatic prince!” they both laughed before just staring into each other's eyes in silence with smiles, their cheeks heating up slightly

Time seemed to stop right then and there. Just them, sitting together in a beautiful fountain under the moonlight, their hands over one another without either of them having the heart to pull away

His gaze fell again on her lips. It seemed like they were under a spell that he definitely didn’t want to end it

But then Rayla yawned again and he did too

“Okay, I’m calling Claudia to get that Uber. You need to get to your dorm before you fall asleep on me”

“I… don’ see a problem with that” she admitted, her voice full of sleep and her eyes dropping again. Callum shook his head with a small smile and dialed Claudia’s number. She immediately picked up

 _“CALLUM!”_ she shouted and he flinched slightly _“WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU AND RAYLA?”_

“Good evening to you too, Claudia” he rolled his eyes

_“Stop. Deflecting. Where are you? Why didn’t you answer my texts?”_

“Rayla and I went on a walk after the parlor. Also, I just read the texts. I was going to answer them” he couldn’t help but think his voice was kinda bitter, rightfully so

 _“You two want the Uber now?”_ she asked

“Yes, I’ll send the address we are now to you”

 _“So… are you and Rayla mad at me?”_ Callum sighed deeply and looked at Rayla, who was practically sleeping beside him

“Well, Rayla is not mad at neither of you”

_“What about you?”_

“Rayla is the one who got must hurt with this joke so if she’s not mad, I don’t have the right to be” he explained

 _“What’s this about Rayla being hurt?”_ he sighed again as the memory of her tears burned him like fire

“Look, I need to get Rayla to her dorm and it’s best if you talk to her about it, it’s not something I would know how to explain” he put his hand on his forehead, trying to soothe his headache that was starting to form

_“Okay then. Just send the address. Goodnight Callum”_

“’night Claudia.” he said and the call ended. With a quick research in the map and he got the address, quickly sending to Claudia, who only responded a minute later saying that the Uber would take Rayla to her dorm first and just after that, go to his apartment

A couple minutes later, Rayla was trying to keep herself awake by scrolling through her phone but no avail

A car pulled over to the street and Callum helped Rayla up as they approached the car

“Are you Callum?” the woman who was driving the car questioned

“Yes” he said and the driver motioned with her head to them to enter the car

He sat Rayla and helped her put the seatbelt before doing the same on him

He quickly texted Claudia saying they were in the car, not bothering to look if she answered it

Suddenly he felt something fall on his shoulder and grip his coat lightly

Looking at it, Rayla was with her face nuzzled on his shoulder, her arms holding on his own like a pillar

He didn’t have the heart to turn away, so he let her, his face burning like an oven

* * *

“I’ll just take her to her resident assistant and come back” he assured to the woman driving the car and she simply nodded at them

Callum helped Rayla get out of the car as she was still gripping on his arm tightly

With some difficulty, he rang the bell of the dorm and for a few seconds he pondered if he should do it again, but then the door opened, Mrs. Meriel was standing on the other side, her eyes widened

“What happened?” the elder woman asked worriedly

“Don’t worry, she’s just tired” he chuckled looking at her, brushing a few strands of her hair away from her face

“I… am no’ tired…” she tried to argue, still holding onto him

“Your accent is getting thicker, it means you’re one step away from falling asleep” she mumbled something, but he couldn’t make out what it was

The elder woman tried to take her away from him, but she only nuzzled further onto his arm

“Well, it seems she’s not letting go of you,” she said, with an exasperated sigh “can you take her to her room then?” he nodded and felt Rayla loosen her arms around his’s as he walked into the hallway

It was kinda difficult to bring her up the stairs, but he managed it, finally entering her room

He uncovered her bed and finally was able to put her down on a sitting position on her bed before helping take way her bag from her shoulder and her shoes and untying her hair from the ponytail. He felt bad that she would have to sleep in that dress, but he was far too uncomfortable in helping her that way. _Oh well…_

He helped her lay down and pulled the covers up to her chest, noticing the small smile in her face as she nuzzled into her pillow

He turned on the small table lamp on her nightstand, illuminating the darkness-filled room. He sighed and pushed away a few hair strands from her face before taking his hand away and walking away

But she grabbed his hand back and pulled him down to be eye-level with her

“Thank ya for tonigh’, Callum” she said, her eyelashes fluttering open and planting a kiss on his cheek before releasing his hand and nuzzling back onto her pillow, her eyes already closed

Callum was speechless. The ghost sensation of her lips on his cheek was enough to make his world stop

He didn’t remember what happened next. The only thing he knew was that before he could realize, he was entering the Uber again, his fingers lightly tracing the place where she kissed him

Claudia had kissed him on the spot numerous times when they were growing up and even then, he only felt slightly more flustered. But something was different when Rayla did it. What was it?

He put his hand on his head as he tried to pinpoint what was different and it hit him like a wall of bricks

It was time for him to admit that something was going on. No excuses

He felt something for Rayla. Something stronger and deeper than anything he ever felt for Claudia. His eyes widened and he laid back on the car seat

“I… _I love her_ ” he said only to reassure himself more than anything. The words were amazing to finally say, as if the weight of the doubts of these last weeks finally got off his shoulders “I love Rayla…”

As he finally reached his apartment, the world still seemed to be spinning. He sat on his bed, not bothering to change from his clothes and just thought. There was no excuse that _“sleep playing tricks on him”_ He never felt more awake in his life

His hands reached for one of the drawers in his nightstand and he took the folded paper out and unfolding it, revealing the kiss drawing he did last week. Everything seemed to find its place. He folded it again and put it back

He didn’t have the heart to wash away his face and potentially clean the ghost sensation that was on his cheek, so he just changed into his pajamas and laid on the bed, staring at the ceiling, overthinking everything

_What was he going to do now?_

That night, his dreams were filled with her and her only.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no words, only: You're welcome~  
>  **Up Next:** Claudia apologizes and helps Rayla


	16. It's not the same without you

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love Claudia and I think if she and Rayla met in different ways, they would be great friends, so here’s some Claudia & Rayla bonding, enjoy!

“Callum? Are you even payin’ attention?” Rayla asks. He blinked when her small hands waved in front of his face. They were both bathing in the sunlight of this fine Sunday afternoon. They accidentally bumped into each other when they were in the University’s library and after a walk around campus, they decided to sit down on one of the benches and rest. Callum stiff with her, putting some distance between them on the bench. She didn‘t understand why

“Uh… Yeah! Definitely!”

“Really?” he nodded “So what was I talkin’ about?” she raised a brow with a smirk

“Uh… Well…” he scrambled with his words before admitting “I don’t remember”

She rolled her eyes at him with a smile

“I was sayin’ that the team got invited to a party on Monday after the game and we all got one extra invite. Soren said he was goin’ to bring Claudia in. Do ya want to go to the party with me?”

His eyes widened, his cheeks were red and his hands twitched slightly. She noticed he was sweating a bit like he was sick

She put her hand on his forehead. It was slightly hot and she felt it got hotter when she touched it

“Are you feelin’ okay? You’ve been weird since Friday”

Speaking of Friday, she didn’t recall how she got to her room and why did she choose to sleep in her dress, even though it wasn’t the most uncomfortable thing she wore in her life, but she would always choose to sleep in light clothes. It didn’t make sense to her

“Uh… Maybe? I mean! Yes! I’m a-okay! HAHA!” he clearly cringed and the sweating seemed to be getting worse

She retreated her hand from his forehead and she saw he was starting to get less sweaty and the blush seemed to die slowly

“Okay then, so do you wanna go?”

“I mean, sure! It seems fun! Even though there’s going to be lots of people, loud music, drunk people passing out and-” he started counting on his fingers

“Callum, ya don’t need to go if ya don’t want to, I just thought it would be fun to break the routine and party with my friends, that includes ya” she noticed his cheeks regained the shade of red almost immediately before he out some more inches between them in the bench before answering

“I was just teasing Rayla! Of course I wanna go!” he smiled and she felt the weight leave her shoulders as she released a breath

“That’s great!” she took her phone out of her pocket and opened the message the host of the party sent her “The party starts at 10pm tomorrow. I’ll send ya the address” she sent forward the address to his contact and she heard his phone notification sound from his pocket, meaning that he had indeed received the message. She looked at the time on her phone and sighed “I need to go back to my dorm. Thanks for the talk, though. Can’t wait to see ya tomorrow” she smiled and ruffled his hair a little bit with a laugh before gathering her things

She didn’t need to walk much to get to her dorm, less than 5 minutes of walking

She thought today would be a day without surprises

But as soon as she entered the dorm, she saw Claudia leaving one of the rooms, her hair kinda messy and her face flushed

It didn’t take long for her to recognize what room she had just exited: Lyra’s, the only girl besides herself that played on the immediate team of basketball

She wasn’t usually curious about other people’s private lives but seeing Claudia here was an intriguing sight

Rayla walked up to her, Claudia not noticing her as she talked with someone (probably Lyra) inside the room

“I need to go now, can we continue this later?” she green-eyed woman asked and the other person inside the room giggled in approval before closing the door. Claudia sighed breathlessly with a smile on her face and still didn’t seem to notice Rayla approaching her

That is until she finally turned in her direction and found Rayla less than 6 feet from her

Immediately she backed away, startled, probably wondering how she didn’t hear her approach

“Shit Rayla! You scared me” she put a hand over her heart and took a few labored breaths to try to calm her

“If ya were payin’ attention, you would’ve noticed me. I wasn’t even tryin’ to sneak up on ya, which I can do” she said, smirking

“I was distracted…” she tried to justify, avoiding her gaze and twirling one of the strands of her long hair around her index finger

“I can see that” Claudia coughed slightly as Rayla eyed her figure up and down, taking notice of how her, usually so tidy clothes, were full of wrinkles, but in the end, she decided to not comment on that “So, it was nice seein’ ya, but I really need to get goin’ back to my room and start readin’ some books” she turned around, but Claudia grabbed her shoulder, making Rayla look over to her

“Can we talk?” she asked and Rayla raised one of her white eyebrows at her “ _privately_ ”

_Oh_

She nodded and motioned with her head to follow her upstairs

As soon as she entered room 213, Rayla put her bag with the books she got from the library near her door and turned on the lights of the room since she could already see on the horizon the sun setting

“Take a seat somewhere” Claudia looked around and decided to use the chair from her desk and Rayla sat on her bed, with her legs crossed “What can I help ya with?” She saw Claudia’s nostrils double in size as she took a deep breath

“I am here to apologize”

“For what?”

“The stunt me and Soren pulled on Friday” she said, tearing her gaze away from Rayla and going to her hands, where she fidgeted with a loose thread of her shirt “I heard from Callum that you felt bad about it”

The memories from Friday and her breakdown in front of Callum filled her mind. Did he tell everything to her?

“Did he say what happened exactly?”

“No! Of course not!” Rayla let a relieved sigh out “He said he wouldn’t know how to explain what happened and it was best for me to talk to you personally”

“Well, thanks, Claudia. It was nice of ya, but I’m not really mad at ya or Soren for that”

“Callum said so, but I really needed to check on you” she laid back on the chair “I didn’t know you would be so hurt by the idea of being on a date with Callum”

“What? No! That wasn’t why I was mad at the situation! It had nothin’ to do with him” Claudia seemed genuinely surprised at the revelation

“Then why were you mad?”

“I have a lot on my mind these last few weeks and everythin’ seemed to boil down to that moment. Of course, Nyx didn’t help when she proposed that stupid idea”

“I see…” she put her hand on her chin and raised a brow at her. It seemed she still had something on her mind.

“What’s on your mind now?” she asked and Claudia took another deep sigh

“Rayla, please be honest with me. Would it be that bad to be with Callum?”

Rayla became offended at her question and she narrowed her eyes with a pout on her lips

“What? Of course not! He’s noble and true and-” she started counting on her fingers

“And?” Claudia

“Smart and kind and brave! And he’s my friend! My best friend” _How could he be anything else but that at this point?_

He’s been by her side every time she broke down since they met and all he cared about was to remind her that no matter what, he would always be there for her. She never felt more at peace before she met the warmth that he introduced in her life.

_I never want to leave his side again because I love him_

Her eyes widened and she put her hands over her mouth instantly, even though she was sure Claudia couldn’t read her thoughts

She laid back on her bed, her eyes still widened at her discovery

“You okay Rayla?” Claudia asked, her voice being suppressed by the swirling thoughts in her head

All the urge and need to be with Callum all made sense. He wasn’t just a friend or a best friend anymore, no matter how much she tried to deny it

“Fuck” she said and buried her face in her palms, who were sweating already

“You need any help over there?” Claudia said and sat by her side on the bed, her head hovering over Rayla’s

“I think…” she brought her hands down to rest on her stomach “ya might be onto something” Claudia’s smile widened as she let out a shriek mixed with her own laughter

“I KNEW IT! You like Callum!” Rayla groaned but nodded and Claudia only laughed more “he needs to know Rayla!”

“NO!” she shouted and sat on the bed abruptly “I’m not ready! I just realized it and I need some time to think about how to approach the subject” she brought her legs to her chest and put her chin on top of her knees “And I… I don’t know if he likes me that way” it hurt to admit but it was the truth

“W-What?!” Claudia stuttered in disbelief “You think he doesn’t like you back?” Rayla nodded sheepishly and Claudia put a hand on her shoulder “Rayla, I know that boy for over 15 years and most of this time, he had a crush on me”

“This is not exactly helpin’, Claudia-” Rayla said before the other woman shushed her

“The important thing is that I know Callum and I know how he acts when he likes someone. Does he find an excuse to spend his time with you and guarantees that you’re enjoying it?” Rayla nodded “Does he blush around you?” she nodded again “Does he look at you with a gleam in his eyes?” once again, Rayla nodded and Claudia’s smile softened “These are all signs that he likes you, Rayla”

“What if he hasn’t realized it yet?” her voice was full of emotion

“Then you will help him realize it by being there and admitting what you feel” Rayla buried her face in her knees and she heard Claudia sigh “I’ll leave you to think this through. Just… trust your feelings, okay?”

Rayla looked at the woman and went for a hug. Claudia wasn’t expecting by the way she froze but quickly she returned and gave a small pat on Rayla’s back before they separated and Claudia got up from the bed

As she grabbed the handle, Rayla spoke up

“Thank ya, Claudia, for everythin’” she smiled and Claudia only smiled back, before exiting the room, leaving Rayla alone with her thoughts

She let a sigh out and grabbed her phone that was in her pocket, a text message from Callum was the only notification that was showing

_Callum [5:03 pm] Thanks for the address :)_

_Callum [5:04 pm] Can’t wait to see you tomorrow_

She groaned and turned off her phone without answering him. She would take some time to come up with a proper answer that didn’t scream what was passing through her head right now: _I love you, Callum_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I regret absolutely _nothing_  
>  Also: did you guys now that there’s a zine dedicated to our lovebugs? That’s right! 400 pages of art and fanfiction gathered by an amazing team! Unfortunately, I didn’t get to work on as I wanted, but I’m so excited to get my own copy in October! Please consider supporting it if you want and have the money for it! You can get guarantee your own copy [here](https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/falling-for-you-a-rayllum-zine/x/23496836#/)  
>  **Up next:** Another game, another day of these two pining after each other, at least things will be easier now! Unless…


	17. I don't feel so alone

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this should be a Rayla P.O.V chapter but I always wrote chapters better by using Callum’s point of view so I apologize if you wanted to see more Rayla freaking out about everything, but this and the next 2 chapters are all Callum’s view of things. I hope you all enjoy it, nonetheless!

** Chapter Seventeen -  ** ** I don't feel so alone **

Callum changed the position as he leaned back on the wall of the gym hallway. He could hear talking inside the locker room. The game against Neolandia would start in half an hour and he needed to talk to Rayla. Well, not talk, after all, since Friday, it seemed like everything that came out of his mouth when talking to her was gibberish. His face turned to frown as he remembered the disaster conversation he had with her yesterday

He didn’t even get to say to her if he was showing up to the game or not. It totally slipped his mind because the only thing on his mind was that Rayla looked absolutely gorgeous under bathing light of the sun as he prepared to set, the way her skin, when bathed with the twilight, made her glow, the pretty curve of her soft lips was more enticing than ever

He shook the thoughts away. If he wanted to form two coherent sentences when talking to her now and at the party, he shouldn’t be thinking about how she is fast, strong, kind and beautiful-

He groaned again and buried his face in his palms

He was screwed. If he wasn’t before, now he definitely is. He should really go away from the locker room before the team got out and he was obligated to face Rayla with his mind running a thousand miles per hour

He was prepared to leave his spot, but as soon as his back disconnected with the wall, the locker room door opened and Callum forgot how to breath

Rayla was not paying attention to her surroundings and put one strand of her hair behind her ear before she looked up and saw him. Her eyes widened and she took a step back, mirroring him

They gazed into each other's eyes for moments and the world seemed to stop before he took the initiative to break the silence

“Uh… hey!”

“Hi” she said bashfully and avoided his gaze, bringing another strand of her hair behind her ear again and a blush dusted her cheeks

“So…” he started, not knowing where his trains of thoughts were going

“So?” she asked, one her brows up

“Are you okay?” _Great start, Callum_

“Me?” her voice was a little surprised “I- I am fine! Just a little nervous about the game! That’s all” she shrugged her shoulders, a nervous smile on her face

“I’m sure you guys are going to win this”

“Thank ya, it means a lot ya’re believing in us this much” she smiled softly at him, the redness on her cheek only increasing. He gulped at the sight and his words seemed to be lost as he looked into her eyes intensely

Their moment was interrupted when the lockerroom dedicated to the adversary team opened and a dozen of people stepped out, wearing black, grey and golden jerseys, talking really loud about the game and bragging about how easy it was going to be

They all stopped into a halt when they saw Rayla, who was wearing the classic jersey with Xadia University’s colors and snickered, the tallest one with dark skin and black hair whispering to his teammates

Not bothering to be polite, he lightly shoved Rayla out of his way and Callum grabbed her when she almost fell on the floor, wrapping his arms around her in a protective stance.

As the team disappeared, Callum was still with his arms around her, basking into her warmth and she didn’t seem bothered by it

That is until they noticed how close they were to each other

They quickly separated and put a distance of at least 4 feet between them, their faces red

“Uh- Sorry! I didn’t mean to-”

“It’s okay! It was… nice” she said looking at him with a smirk and adding the last part with a wink that made his heart speed up. He didn’t comment on that as he decided to focus that she had an angered look on her face as she looked in the direction the team disappeared

“Who was that? That pushed you?”

“Oh… That was Kasef, Neolandia’s captain of the team, one of the best players that I know. Unfortunately, all the skill he has is throw in the trash when ya discover his personality is full of shite” she scowled

“I... could see that” his blood was boiling quickly

“Ya think this is the worse he ever did?” she almost laughed, a tinge of bitterness in her voice “If his team’s coach wasn’t here, he would’ve probably insulted me or somethin’ like that”

“I’m sorry you had to go through this, Rayla” Callum said putting a hand on her shoulder and lightly squeezing it. She put her own hand over his and caressed it slightly and he felt the heat creep up to his neck

“Hey, Rayla” one of her teammates opened the door, putting their head out of the door. It was a young man, probably Callum’s age, he was a little taller than Rayla and had a swimmer build and dark skin and green hair “Coach is calling you”

She let out a sigh, taking Callum’s hand off her shoulder but still holding it

“I’m comin’, Fylson” she said and he nodded before closing the door “I gotta go now, but I take it I’ll be seeing ya at the party tonight?”

“Yeah! Definitely!” he said with and she gave him a big smile that warmed his heart and shook his core. She gave a squeeze to his hand and let go of it, lightly brushing her thumb over his palm before letting go and going back inside the locker room

He was sure he had the biggest lovesick grin he ever had when he watched her turn away inside

His heart rate was quickening and his skin was still tingling where her small but calloused hands had caressed his bigger but soft hands

He stopped to drink water from one of the fountains, hoping it would cool down the heat that was only increasing as he thought about her and her almost magical touch

His thoughts started to drift away again, but his cellphone vibrated in his pocket, braking the train of thoughts about her

Taking his phone out, he saw it was an automatic message from the University staff

_Hello, fellow student of Xadia University, this is an automatic message sent to inform you of future preparations that will occur on our school_

_As you may know, our team of basketball is playing today in their semi-final of the annual competition of basketball between the universities of various states_

_It’s been 5 years since we reached the final game in any sport competition so we’re here announce that if the result of the game today ends up being positive for us, our whole staff will be closing all the facilities* for two days, meaning that there will be no classes tomorrow and the day after_

_The time with no students will be given to our staff for them to prepare festivities for everyone on Thursday and Friday_

_Our normal schedule will return to those who have classes on Saturday_

_On this note: we wish the best of luck to our team and a good rest for all of you_

_Best regards, your principal & Xadia University Staff _

**_*The only facilities that will still work normally will be the public library and gymnasium. The dormitories will be closing their doors earlier. It's advised those who reside any of the dormitories be back earlier than normal_ **

He smiled at the news. He really needed a break and sleep until the afternoon. The last two daybreaks he’s spent thinking about Rayla and how to convey what he felt for her in a way he wouldn’t actually be mortified by embarrassment and melt on a puddle before her

He sighed and made his way to his seat

He saw a couple of students celebrating the news while showing their phones to others. It was pure confusion in the faces of everyone who came for the Elephants of Neolandia or wasn’t actually an enrolled student

As he sat on the bleacher and saw the Xadia team enter the court, he gazed lovingly at Rayla as she smiled at her teammates and gave Soren a light punch to his arm

She then stared into the crowd, her gaze darting every single one row of bleachers, his eyes decided to follow hers. She abruptly stopped a few bleachers to his right and he gazed at the spot

He saw two tall figures there and he recognized them as Ethari and Runaan

Ethari was waving excitedly at his daughter with a big smile as Runaan was only chuckling at his husband’s antics. She waved off at them with a smile too and he thought she would be done scanning the crowd and go focus on her team, but her eyes continued their search

Callum suddenly felt self-conscious but a small part of him wanted her to be scanning the hundreds of people for him

And she was because eventually her eyes stopped their scan and laid on him. He gulped and he felt the whole world disappear around them

There was no noise besides the constant thrumming of his heart. There was no one else besides her and him as they gazed into the eyes of each other for what it felt to be an eternity. An eternity he definitely didn’t want to end if it meant he would be dragged away from the twin pools of violet that were her eyes

She stayed there too, gazing at him and he swore he saw something in her look. Something he recognized it

She had the same glint in her eyes from that night on the cliff

_She scoffed with a smile, but the blush on her cheeks clearly indicated that she was a little embarrassed and was trying to play it cool_

_“And what would that be?”_

_“Well, you’re smart, and fast and” the moon was there to remind him of his next words “beautiful” he breathed, his face warming_

_The world seemed to stop, neither of them doing something. Rayla seemed genuinely surprised by his words, the blush on her cheeks getting darker by second, her gorgeous eyes widened slightly and her lips slightly parted in surprise_

He would’ve recognized that same shimmer in her eyes an infinite amount of times before he forgot it

Still, not tearing her gaze away from him, she unconsciously put a strand of her hair behind her ear and her cheeks reddened and a fond smile appeared on her face. No smirk, no teasing

A genuine smile, an adorable but nervous habit he had seen much more often lately and a glint that he loved so much

He was deep into those feelings and there was no way out of it

And even if it did, he wasn’t sure he would’ve taken it, not when having them felt so _good_ and _right_

Their gazes finally tore when Rayla was pulled away from the spot she was from one of her teammates

Callum felt his heartache for her gaze

* * *

They won! The Xadia team crushed Neolandia! With a difference of almost 25 points, they won against the team and got their well-deserved place in the final game!

The whole gym was cheering for them and of course, he was too. Rayla was being lifted into the air by Soren and everyone was cheering her. He swore he saw a scowl in Kasef’s face for a second, but his mind was focused on her

When she was finally back on the ground and with a big smile, she looked with no hesitation in his direction and smiled warmly before tearing her gaze away as she was embraced by her dads and laughed soundly, the noise ringing through his ears and taking him back to cloud nine

As he rode back home to change his clothes for the party, his mind was still thinking of her and his heart still sought for her

_Yeah, undoubtedly, there was no way out of this one_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next two chapters are the ones I’ve been dying to write since I finally planned the timeline of events of this story  
> They are supposed to be up earlier than normal, so I advise you to keep an open eye for them because I’ll be pouring my heart into writing them  
>  **Next up:** the party


	18. When violet eyes get brighter and heavy wings grow lighter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah yes, one of the two chapters I’ve been dying to write since the beginning and I’ll soon see why… You may want to listen to [this song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIz2K3ArrWk) while reading a certain part of the chapter ;)   
> **Content Warning:** This chapter contains some mentions of drinking but with people of 18 or older (In my country 18 is the legal age for drinking so I don’t really consider to be underage, but I know some people may be upset over it, so just a warning)

** Chapter Eighteen -  ** ** When violet eyes get brighter and heavy wings grow lighter **

The party was… loud. To say the least. And he hadn’t even entered the house yet, he was only parking his car in front of it

He took deep breaths and looked at himself in the mirror. The words Claudia had told him on Friday resonated in his head as he rolled the sleeves of his shirt and unbuttoned its top buttons. He could do this. It was going to be easier with Claudia, Soren, and Rayla there. No worries. None at all

Awkwardly, he entered through the front door and winced at what he saw

Dozens of people were already splayed on the furniture with bootles of beer in their hands as they dozed off

He turned around and saw some people kissing in less than appropriate ways for a public event. He was tired already, why did he come to this party in the first place?

“Callum!” His heart skipped a beat as he was reminded why. He turned and Rayla was in front of him, waving her hand. Her hair was free of the confines of the ponytail she had during the game and was now wearing a leather jacket with a teal crop top and black leggings “Ya really came? I’m impressed” she laughed and added with a smirk, but he noted some blush in her cheeks

“Of course! I did say I would, didn’t I?” he smiled softly at her and she turned the smirk into those genuine smiles of hers and it made his heart soar

“Rayla! Callum!” a voice made them turn away from their moment to look into their direction. Soren had a red cup in one of his hands and the other was around Claudia’s shoulders as she helped her brother walk through the crowd

“Hey!” Rayla said excitedly and with a wave of her hand, she commanded both of them to come closer, which they complied “Already need help to walk Soren? The party only just started”

“I tried to warn him to go easy on those, but he said since he’s a legal adult he can do whatever he wants”

“I’m 22, Claudia! I can drink the hell I want” his voice was a little slurred

“Sure, sure, Sor-bear” she gave a reassuring nod to him but rolled her eyes in annoyance. She helped put Soren on a nearby chair and let out a tired sigh before turning back to Rayla and him

“Callum, I’ve never expected to see you here!”

“Rayla invited me”

“Oh? Really, Rayla?” she wiggled her eyebrows at her. He saw how Rayla’s eyes widened and the blush that was already on her face deepened

“I-I just had an extra invite! And ya and Soren were already comin’!” she put her hands on her hips and narrowed her eyes at Claudia

“Sureeee, whatever you say, Rayla” Claudia snorted and shrugged her shoulders at Rayla, who in the other hand stomped her boot on the floor and made a motion with her hands above her mouth, telling Claudia to keep her mouth shut, which Claudia only laughed more but stayed quiet

Rayla finally turned away from her to face him, her cheeks still red and a nervous smile on her face

“Wanna go see if there’s somethin’ good to eat here?” she proposed, clearly trying to look like she wasn’t nervous about something, probably something only Claudia and her knew

“Sure, sounds great”

They walked through the dance floor, which was almost empty because the DJ hadn’t arrived yet, and found a table with food. Rayla’s eyes searched for something before her nose wrinkled at the presence of sushi and her lips turned into a scowl

“You don’t like it?” he asked

“No, not really. I don’t really like anythin’ with fish on it”

He made sure to note that in his mind. If he ever got the chance to take Rayla on a proper date, no fish allowed

She eventually filled a cup with the only non-alcoholic beverage there was on the table, a fruit punch

“So,” she put a strand of her hair behind her ear “are ya enjoying the party so far?”

“If I’m being honest, it’s exactly how I pictured: drunk people passing out, loud sounds, lots of flirting and people kissing each other while drunk. Not exactly my cup of tea”

“What is your cup of tea, then?” she said, putting more punch in her cup

“I’m not exactly the biggest party guy”

“Oh really? I hadn’t noticed!” she said sarcastically, rolling her eyes

“Hahaha,” he smirked at her before continuing “but really. I prefer a thousand times stay at my apartment, enjoying a nice cup of coffee and watch some movies with friends or” _someone special_ “alone”

“Me too” she admitted

“Wait, really?”

“Duh, I mean, I like parties and all, but if I had to choose between a loud party with strange guys trying to hit on me or a warm and special afternoon with someone, I would go for the latter” she looked at her cup before throwing it on the trash beside the table

“‘With someone’?” he asked and her eyes widened

“I mean, my friends and my family!” her blush was deepening

“Oh” he couldn’t hide the disappointment in his voice and they avoided each other’s gazes

The feedback of the microphone startled both of them and they looked at the direction of the infernal sound

“Sorry for my lateness, people!” Nyx was standing at the DJ Booth “Let’s start this party for real! And we’re not stoppin’ till dawn!”

“Oh no” Rayla said and groaned loudly “I can’t believe Nyx is the DJ!”

“What’s the problem?”

“She has horrible taste in music! Everyone in my dorm agrees with that!”

The music changed drastically and Rayla groaned. Callum, on the other hand, didn’t see anything wrong with the music, his foot tapping at the rhythm

“I can’t believe ya are enjoying this horror show” she said, her eyes widened as she looked at his feet

“I don’t think it’s that bad, Rayla”

“We can’t be friends anymore!” she turned away from him and he rolled his eyes, grabbing her by her arm

“Look at me, Ray” he said and she looked at him, a pout on her lips that only made him laugh more “C’mon, let’s go outside since you’re being a pouty baby”

He was still gripping her arm as they traveled the sea of people and finally found the front door, leading to the empty entrance

“Everyone seems to be either inside enjoyin’ that shit show or on the backyard” she explained

“That’s good, I’m kinda fond of the quiet here”

“Me too”

They sat on the base of a tree right in front of the front porch of the house, their knees touching and Callum suddenly felt self-conscious, but he didn’t separate them, he had done that too much in the last few days and now he couldn’t bear to do it anymore

“If ya think that by bringin’ me away from that horrible music, I’m goin’ to spare ya from my lecture from what good music actually sounds like ya’re gravely mistaken” she pointed a finger at his face with a stern look in her face

“You can start then”

“What?” her eyes widened

“Do your lecture, I’m always open to new music” he smiled and she seemed lost as if she wasn’t believing his words. Quickly she grabbed her phone from her jacket pocket, including a pair of earphones and gave the left side to him while she stayed with the right side

Opening her Spotify, she quickly tapped something and looked at him with a proud smile as if saying to him to _listen and learn_

She tapped the play button

_The stars lean down to kiss you_

_And I lie awake and miss you_

_Pour me a heavy dose of atmosphere_

Callum immediately recognized the notes. It was the same song that was playing in the café weeks ago when they first met

Honestly, Callum would never forget any detail of that day even if he didn’t have an eidetic memory

_'Cause I'll doze off safe and soundly_

_But I'll miss your arms around me_

_I'd send a postcard to you, dear_

_'Cause I wish you were here_

He looked at Rayla slightly taken back. She didn’t seem to have planned this but how? Between the more than 30 million music that is available on Spotify, what was the chance that _this_ was the one Rayla wanted to show him?

She looked so peaceful listening to the song. She had a small smile and her eyes glinted and he silently wished he could be able to capture that moment forever into art, but he knew that even though he was good at art, he would never make justice to how Rayla’s hair almost glowed when the light from the full moon above them passed down the branches and leaves from the tree and settled on her hair that was swaying slightly due to the night wind.

_I'll watch the night turn light blue_

_But it's not the same without you_

_Because it takes two to whisper quietly_

Rayla then turned to look at him. He thought of avoiding her piercing violet eyes but he did that for far too long, so he just allowed himself to stare into them. She smiled at him and his throat felt dry at the sight of it

_The silence isn't so bad_

_'Til I look at my hands and feel sad_

_'Cause the spaces between my fingers_

_Are right where yours fit perfectly_

His eyes drifted to their hands, settled in between their bodies, and touching the grass under them. They weren’t exactly touching, with an inch or two of space, but he longed to close that space and hold her hand without having to think it was an accident and apologize for it

_I'll find repose in new ways_

_Though I haven't slept in two days_

_'Cause cold nostalgia chills me to the bone_

“Rayla, do you-“ he tried to say something but she silenced him with her index finger on his lips and a wink. He felt his lips tingling and his heart racing

_But drenched in vanilla twilight_

_I'll sit on the front porch all night_

_Waist deep in thought because when_

_I think of you I don't feel so alone_

His eyes gazed down to her lips. Lips that he’s been dreaming to kiss since before he even admitted to himself what he felt for her

Was this the moment he’d been waiting? To finally show her how he felt for her? Did he have the courage to do it? To close the aching distance between them?

_I don't feel so alone_

_I don't feel so alone_

He didn’t. Not with her around.

_As many times as I blink_

_I'll think of you tonight_

As the instrumentals started having their solo, Callum finally reached his hand to hold Rayla’s. She clearly wasn’t expecting by the way her eyes widened and the way he felt her skin tingle

He just needed a confirmation that she was okay with this. If he received that signal. He would go for it. One hundred percent, no backing down this time

_I'll think of you tonight_

He closed their hands and lightly brushed with her hand with his thumb while still looking at her. He leaned in closer and she didn’t back off, instead, she only squeezed his hand tighter and gave a small nod after looking at his lips for a brief second and after what it felt to be an eternity, he closed in

_When violet eyes get brighter_

_And heavy wings grow lighter_

_I'll taste the sky and feel alive again_

Callum kissed her as much as Rayla kissed him. They both closed their eyes at the same time as soon as the kiss started

After a brief second, Callum realized he would never find words to describe the way kissing her made him feel. He grew up reading descriptions of romance novels and he thought that it would be easy. It wasn’t. There was no word in English or any other language to describe it

_And I'll forget the world that I knew_

_But I swear I won't forget you_

Rayla’s hand that wasn’t holding his own hand came up to his jaw and she pulled him back to another kiss as soon as he tried to back away

_Oh if my voice could reach back through the past_

_I'd whisper in your ear,_

_"Oh darling I wish you were here"_

The instrumentals started to wrap up as Rayla's hand released his jaw and came to hug his nape, holding him in place

Their kiss continued until the last note of the song and their eyes fluttered open, green meeting violet, their foreheads pressed against each other, dumb smiles in their faces

“Wow” Was all he managed to say to her and they clearly needed some time to refill their lungs with air

“Is that all ya say to me?” she pouted her lips in annoyance, but the mischievous glint in her eyes said that she wasn’t upset at all

“I don’t think there’s anything else I need to say” he added and saw how her cheeks got red

“Shut up” she scoffed and quickly give him a peck in his lips, which quickly turned into a longer but equally affectionate kiss

“Callum! I heard your voice” Soren said as he appeared from beside the tree, his voice even more slurred than what it was when they saw him half an hour ago “Clauds is looking for y-”

Rayla and he scrambled out of each other’s arms and tried to play it cool, but by the way their faces were flushed, it was almost impossible

“Wait… were you two just kissin’?” he asked

Rayla and Callum looked at each other, the heat of their faces only increasing

“Um… no?” They said in unison and watched as Soren narrowed his eyes at them

“Okay!” he said, totally forgetting what he was going to say to Callum as he turned away to enter the party

The only thing Callum and Rayla could do at that moment was look at each other and laugh as they held hands

And at that moment, he never felt more at peace

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter? Well, at least 80% of it, is flirting and kissing (the other 20% is Callum panicking about how great Rayla is). I think you guys deserve it after enduring this slow-burn  
>  **Next up:** Lovebugs ditch the party


	19. I'll taste the sky and feel alive again

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is probably my favorite to write, I’m a sucker for some fluff and domestic fluff. Writing kissing too is real fun. Also, the biggest chapter I’ve written so far! 3,6k words!  
> Again, there are ATLA references in here because I’m a sucker for that show since I was 5, so you’re going to bear with me  
> Most of this chapter is kissing and making out, there are some naughty references in here but nothing that changes the rating

** Chapter Nineteen - I'll taste the sky and feel alive again **

“Wanna get out of here?” Callum asked as they faced Soren get into the house, the music almost breaking the windows. His face was still slightly flushed from the kissing they had done before Soren appeared. Before it seemed so easy to just lean in and do it, now that his friend had interrupted them, it was as if the spell they were in a few moments ago completely shattered

What was he supposed to do now? Just go for it? Would she find it weird?

“And where would we be goin’?”

“I don’t know. I just don’t want you to stay here” he put his hand on his pocket and pulled his car key “Let me drive you to your dorm”

“Well, we have a problem. My dorm was getting locked earlier today. It’s almost 12 am now,” she snuck a glance at her phone, probably confirming the time “it’s already locked” she explained

“Then come to my apartment” he said nonchalantly before he realized how his words sounded. He flared up instantly and Rayla only smirked back at him

“It’s that an invitation?” she smirked at him and he felt the urge to dig a hole and bury himself

“No! Again, I just want you to be comfortable at night and not need to climb your way into your room- but if you feel uncomfortable, I guess I can get Claudia to make room for you and-”

She grabbed his hand and squeezed it before smiling at him

“Callum, I trust ya enough to kiss ya under a tree during a party. I would never feel uncomfortable with ya” she exchanged her smirk with a small smile and Callum felt himself breath

“Then let’s go. I really don’t want to stay any more time near this mess” he said looking back to the house and finally walking hand in hand with Rayla to his car

* * *

As he turned on the lights of his studio, he couldn’t help but feel a sense of déjà-vu. Almost 2 weeks ago, Rayla sought his help to deal with things in her dorm, which eventually lead to her sleeping in his bed

Now after these weeks of revelations and unraveling of feelings, Rayla was willingly choosing to sleep in his apartment. Was she expecting him to sleep with her on the same bed? Did he want to do that? Or would he prefer to give her the space she needed and just do the couch-bed thing again?

“So, what am I sleepin’ in?” she asked, looking around

“I… didn’t think that far ahead” he admitted

“Do ya have anythin’ that I can use? An old shirt, sweater?”

He skipped ahead and looked through his drawer, finding an old white and blue sweater who was a little big on him. It would fit Rayla perfectly

He neatly folded it and handed it to her

“You can use the bathroom first” he smiled at her and lightly brushed his thumb over her hand. She blushed slightly and went ahead to the bathroom

Callum sighed and went to fetch his own pajamas and change it

Quickly, Rayla exited the bathroom, her leather jacket and teal crop top in her hand, and wearing the sweater and her black leggings she was wearing for the party

“Hey, so where do I put these?” she asked and looked around the corner, Callum was sitting on the couch, already on his pajamas

“Uh,” he stopped to think for a few seconds before answering “bathroom. Put it under the sink” she simply nodded and went back, quickly exiting and strolling over to him before sitting at his side, not wasting any time as she grabbed his hand and lightly caressed it

“So…” she started “ya like me?” she asked, her cheeks adorned with a pretty shade of red

“Yes” he simply said, gazing into her eyes “do you like me?” he asked back

“Duh, more than anythin’” she rolled her eyes at him and gently cupped his cheek, drawing him in closer to her

Their lips touched again for a millisecond and Callum’s whole body felt hot. He would never understand how she was able to do these things to him

He gently waved his fingers through her silky moonlit hair as her hand dropped from his cheek and went to rest against his thrumming heart

Her other arm hugged the back of his neck and pulled their bodies closer than he ever thought they would be

They finally separated, their cheeks flushed, lungs in need of air. Her eyes fluttered open a few seconds after his and he couldn’t help but bask into them like the lovesick fool he was

“ _Wow”_ he simply said with a smile

“It’s that what ya’re goin’ to say every time we kiss?” she asked, a peal of laughter not far behind her words

“Will you still going to keep doing if I do?” he replied with a smile and she playfully shoved him against the couch, planting a kiss on his nose with a smile

“Come on, let’s catch some z’s” she pulled him up by his hand, lightly caressing it with her thumb

Callum stared at her as she let go of his hand, sitting on his bed and looked at him expectantly. Was he supposed to go after her? Or just get some pillows and go lay down on the couch again?

“Are ya sleepin’ standin’ or are ya goin’ to join me here?” she said with a teasing tone

“O-Oh, I’m coming!” he awkwardly sat on the other side of the bed while Rayla pulled the covers over her body

Imitating her, he laid on his back staring at the ceiling, the covers up to his waist

“Hey” she simply said, tugging the sleeve of his shirt lightly, drawing his attention to her. She was laying on her side, alluring eyes staring at him with fondness “get comfortable, okay? I don’t want you missin’ sleep because of me” she smiled warmly

He turned his body to face her and held their hands between their faces, planting a small kiss on her knuckles

The last thing he remembers before falling asleep was a pair of violet eyes staring at him with more warmth than ever

* * *

The first rays of sunlight hit Callum’s face and he scrunched up his nose. Did he forget to close the curtains last night? He tried to bury his face on his pillow but met with something softer

His eyes snapped open and he was surprised to see Rayla’s face buried against his chest, her arms tightly holding him close

The memories of last night flooded his mind and he felt himself blush but in a good way. He hugged Rayla softly, earning a small _hum_ from her

He felt bad for leaving her, but he needed to get up and prepare something for them

He tried to move, but her hands only tightened around his waist, leaving him stuck on the bed as long as she was asleep

“Rayla” he whispered, her face scrunched up slightly “Rayla…” his hand came to brush her face and a small smile appeared on her lips, her violet eyes finally opening

“Hey, my prince…” she said, voice still coated with sleep. Did she mean the nickname? Or was that just the sleep affecting her?

He found that only one thing mattered about it: he liked it

She rubbed her eyes and yawned. With her bedhead, it made her look adorable

“I’m feelin’ déjà-vu,” she said as she sat on the bed, Callum following her suit

“About what?”

“You wakin’ me up just like ya did two weeks ago” she said and blushed slightly “I… I vaguely remember seeing ya the first thing in the mornin’ and thinkin’ I didn’t care why you were in ‘my room’” she air quoted as she reminded him of her confusion when she first woke up that morning “because you were a beautiful sight to wake up next to” she added, her voice almost shy and he was sure his own cheeks were burning. She was now avoiding his gaze

His hand came up to tug her chin so she would look at her

“Thank you Rayla. I also think you’re a beautiful sight to wake up next to” he said and was sightly impressed on how smooth that had been. She smiled at him and her hand came to hold on his wrist and it served as a boost for his confidence “Rayla, can I kiss you?” he asked almost automatically

She raised a brow at him and lightly chuckled

“It thought we were past the phase of askin’ to kiss one another”

“I know, I’m just awkward and I don’t know how to do it” he was impressed how he could change his voice from _confident_ and _smooth_ to _shy_ and almost _shaky_ in less than 10 seconds

“Ya did know how to last night though” he pouted his lips and narrowed his eyes at her and she laughed. Before she could stop the laughs, he brought her lips to meet his, issuing a gasp from her before she melted onto him, her arms locked around his neck and back as they laid down on the soft mattress, her under him as they kissed without stopping

Callum instinctively put his forearms on each side of her head, to support his weight, prevent him from crushing her, and most importantly, ruining the blissful moment. Her arms were still prohibiting him from leaving but her hands moved to weave and pet his messy bedhead

He wanted her to know what she meant to him. His lips left hers and he kissed her cheeks, the bridge of her nose, her temple, and finally her jaw. She let out an audible gasp at the touch and lightly tugged his locks

“Callum…” she said breathlessly as he reached the part that connected her jaw with her ear. He would never admit it out loud, but he felt pride in knowing that he could also make her feel at a loss of words with only affection

He smirked against her skin and restrained a fit of laughter from escaping

He took the opportunity as her arms loosened against his back and he got away from her neck to look at her

Her moonlit hair was splayed across the pillow and her face was flushed with a deep red and she looked just as breathless as he had imagined due her panted call of his name

“Do you want me to stop?” he gazed into her eyes

“Not really,” she blushed and her stomach growled “but we can continue it after we eat somethin’?” he nodded pressing their lips for just a second. She hummed in approval when he did

She finally let go of him and he got up from the bed, leaving her alone in it and he heard her take deep breaths, probably to regain her breath

He stopped in front of his fridge and put his forehead against the cold metal as he sighed deeply

Everything from last night seemed to be a perfect dream, but it was real, there was no way a dream would feel this _right_

He chuckled to himself and opened the fridge, taking some eggs from inside and breaking them in a bowl, the smile not vanishing from his face for a second

* * *

“Ya are spoilin’ me” Rayla said as she eyed the table in front of her. French toast, honey, and a jug of orange juice. He had also made sure to have a small portion of sugar nearby if she needed to put in her glass. He had also made eggs and bacon, the smell familiar to her

“Consider this your gift from me to you” he pulled a chair for her and she took it

“But what did I do to deserve this?” she asked and he put his hands on her shoulders and gave them a light squeeze

“Well, first you did amazing yesterday at the game. I’m pretty sure you were the most incredible player there”

“And ya’re not biased at all while sayin’ this, right?” she teased him and he laughed before giving the top of her head a small kiss

“I just tell you what I witnessed” she hummed in response, clearly not believing him but making no further objections “The other reason is because you are amazing” he left his spot behind her and sat on the chair by her side, grabbing her hand and bringing it to his mouth, lightly brushing the back of it against his lips. He felt her skin tingle as he gazed into her eyes “That night on the cliff, I meant every single word I said. You may not think you deserve this, Rayla, but you do. And I would have done all of this” he motioned to the table with his other hand “with our without anything going between us”

Her eyes softened at his words and her pupils widened as a smile appeared on her features, accompanied by a blush

She leaned in and brought her hand down from his face, giving him a kiss full of emotion, making his heart flutter for what it felt to be the 10th time that morning alone

They pulled away and Rayla gave a kiss on his cheek before going back to her chair with a proud smile

They ate in a comfortable silence, Rayla interrupting it to melt because of his cooking and make him even more flustered at her compliments and trying to take his mind away from the fact that some of the groans of delight she was making were far from appropriate-

“Do ya need any help with that?” she asked and he noticed the plate in his hands he subconsciously picked up

“Oh, if you want to, you can help” he said, shrugging his shoulders and turning away from her, he heard the plates clatter, a chair being dragged on the wooden floor and footsteps behind him as he walked to the kitchen, meaning Rayla was coming back to help him to wash the dishes

And she did, which was definitely helpful. He noted the sleeves of his sweater were getting wet, so he dragged them up to her elbows after doing the same to the long sleeves of his own nightshirt

“Since when do ya have that much muscle on your arms?” she asked and his eyes widened at her question and he looked at his exposed arms

“Oh, I’ve been running some errands for my visual arts teacher, Mrs. Lorelei. Carrying some paints, easels, canvas, the usual. I’ve also been doing some exercises for the last few weeks. I went to see a doctor at the start of the year and promised him to start doing more physical work, but never actually did because I was busy trying to break my art block”

“Oh, I see” she said turned her eyes away from him and focused on the dishes, her cheeks reddening

Sooner than expected, the table was empty and the dish rack was full

“Do you want to continue our Avatar marathon?” he asked as they sat on his couch

“Yeah, we never got to finish it, did we? I think we watched half of the second season or so, right?” he nodded before adding

“I don’t think with all the bubbling feelings I had, I would’ve been able to” he put a hand around her waist, bringing her close to him, and kissed the crown of her head

Callum grabbed the TV remote and quickly put the show on the TV as he laid across the couch, his head on the armrest and Rayla on top of him, her head under his chin, hearing the constant beating of his heart

They were laying together for less than an hour when they reached the 12th episode, “The Serpent’s Pass”

_“Who is this guy? Is he taller than me?”_

_“No, he's about your height”_

_“Is he better-looking?”_

_“It is you, stupid!”_

_“Oh!”_

Rayla giggled and the vibrations made Callum’s heart soar

He couldn’t help but lightly caress her face, bringing her attention away from the show and to gaze at him with loving eyes before they drifted back just as Sokka pulled back in the last moment

_“I can't”_

_“I'm sorry”_

_“No, you shouldn't be.”_

Callum felt his heart break a little. Ever since he was a child, he always felt a pang when watching this particular scene unfold

“At least our relationship isn’t that complicated,” Rayla said, bringing her hand to his face, clearly trying to cheer him up “anymore” she added and he laughed before meeting her halfway and kissing her lips

Just like last night, what it was supposed to be a quick peck, rapidly turned into something much bigger and passionate

Their positions had reversed from the bed, Rayla was now taking the control as she was the one on top of him

Just like he did, she separated their lips before moving to explore his face with her lips, going from lips to his cheeks, the crown of his head, his forehead, his eyelids, going back to his lips and finally descending to his neck, instead of staying on his jaw

His stomach clenched and the whole world seemed to disappear as he felt her smirk against his throat

“Rayla…”

“Yes?” she asked, the smirk even more clear in her voice

“Please…” his voice was strained and breathless

“‘Please’ _what_ , my prince?” he felt her hands going up his exposed arms he forgot to pull the sleeves over after all the work they’d done in the kitchen

She slowed down her pace and went back up to kiss his lips again before pulling away, her violet gaze filled with heat as her hair cascaded around him. He felt all his blood going to two places: his face as he felt it getting hotter and hotter by second and to-

The clear sound of a phone interrupted her as she went back to connect their lips

She jumped off him, recognizing the music and entering the bathroom

Callum was slightly dazed but found the strength to find the remote control of the tv and pause it just as the next episode was starting

Rayla took a while in the bathroom and he could hear part of the conversation between her and the other person on the phone

He finally heard the bid goodbyes to the person and leaned on the doorframe of the bathroom, facing him with a nervous smile on her features

“What?” he asked

“Your shirt” she pointed and he looked down, finding at least 4 of the top buttons open, revealing part of his chest. His face felt hot all over again as he scrambled to close them

When finally done, he brought the sleeves down from his elbows and looked at her, who still had a nervous smile on her lips

“Ya wanna know who interrupted our fun, huh?” she asked, raising a brow at him and he felt self-conscious because he knew, somewhere in the back of his mind, he wanted to know that, but he was glad Rayla was the one who brought it up because he was far too flustered to ask that

“Your silence speaks up” she chuckled and sat by his side, curling against him “It was Ethari and Runaan. They wanted to know if I wanted to pick up my parents at the airport today”

“Aren’t they only arriving tomorrow?” he asked

“They decided to change the plane last minute, they’re arriving this afternoon”

“Oh, well, you can go Rayla, I’ll take you back to your dorm and-” she put a finger against his lips

“Don’t”

“What?” he said against her finger

“I told Ethari and Runaan I needed to relax from thinkin’ about the situation until Saturday arrives and there’s nowhere I feel more relaxed than bein’ with ya” she said, finally retreating her finger from his lips

“Oh…” Callum murmured and Rayla hid her face in the crook of his neck

They stayed in silence for a few moments before a light bulb went off in his mind

“Rayla, how about I help you with this?” she pulled away from his neck to look at him

“What do ya mean with that?”

“I’ll help you relax on Saturday and you can properly introduce me to your parents. All four of them”

“Wait… are ya suggesting to meet them?” he was starting to think he had messed up, by the way her brows furrowed as she asked him

“Yeah, is there a problem with that?”

“Actually… no” she smiled and cupped his cheeks with both hands “I’m sure Ethari and my dad are goin’ to love ya from the start”

“What about your mom and Runaan?”

“They will put ya on a secluded room and ya will only exit when ya swear an oath to never hurt me” she said, her voice not giving him any sign of a joke

“I wouldn’t dare do that to you”

“Yeah, because ya know I could kick your arse even if you are gaining a bit of muscle here or there” she winked and he laughed, but they both knew she was right

“So do you agree with me meeting your parents?”

“Aye” she nodded and gave him a fast kiss on his lips, brushing her thumbs across his cheeks “I can’t wait for it” she admitted at last

“Yeah, me too”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’ll be using this chapter to finally take a break of 4-5 days from writing and finish other things in my life before doing the last 3 (so close and yet so far!)  
> I want to thank everyone for your incredible support and comments, they are incredible and make my day so much better! This fanfiction has been a blast to write and I can’t wait to do more!  
>  **Up next:** four parents met their daughter’s newest lover, hijinks will ensue.


	20. I swear I won't forget you

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m sorry I kept you guys waiting. I’ll try to be more consistent. If you’re ever curious about an update, you can send an ask and message me on Tumblr (the link will be at the bottom of this page), I’ll gladly answer you!

** Chapter Twenty - I swear I won't forget you **

“Callum?” she took his hand between hers. They were standing just a few meters from Runaan and Ethari’s house. He hadn’t said a thing since they left his car and she was starting to get worried about him. It was the exact opposite. He was here to ensure that she wouldn’t have a mental breakdown and give up a meeting with her.

He finally noticed she was calling his name and holding his hand and making soothing motions against the back of his hand. His tight and concerned expression softened. He brought her hand near his lips and planted a kiss on her knuckles before pulling her closer to a hug, burying his face on to her neck, wrapping his arms around her torso

“I’m sorry. I… I promised to be the one calming you. Pretty pathetic that I can’t even keep that up, huh?” Rayla could imagine how his face looked. A nervous smile on those lips of him. An unsure glint in his eyes as he put himself down for her

He unwrapped his arms away from her chest and she saw exactly what she’d imagined on his face and it broke her heart. Her hands came up to hold his face, her thumbs caressing his cheeks before she brought his face close to hers and kissed him. It was brief, only lasting a few seconds but she hoped it conveyed what she wanted to tell him

“Don’t be stupid, okay?” she said as they parted and rested their foreheads together “I know it must be hard for ya to meet not the usual two but _four_ parents, but I assure ya” her hands came to hold his’ “They won’t know we are together unless _ya_ want them to know. When I called to warn them, I told I was bringin’ a friend. You’re still my best friend, so I’m not lyin’ to them, just with holdin’ that we _sometimes_ kiss each other” she smirked at him and he laughed, the wonderful sound doing wonders to soothe her own nerves

“‘Sometimes’?” he asked, smirking back at her too. She had to school herself from commenting loudly about how his smirk had changed from _adorkable_ to _gorgeous_ in less than a week

“Maybe we do more than _sometimes_ ” her mind filled with memories of their shared kisses during the last couple of days and warmth blossomed her cheeks and it seemed to be the same for him by the way his cheeks reddened in an instant. They laughed and kissed one more time before continuing their walk to the house

In less than a minute, Rayla and Callum stood in front of her childhood home. She took a deep breath and walked to the front door, releasing Callum’s hand as she motioned to ring the doorbell but stopped before she could. She turned to look at him and he simply smiled at her, warming her from the inside and giving her the confidence to finally ring it.

And she did

A few moments passed and she heard nothing coming from inside the house. With a confused face, she rang it again, finally hearing some fumbling inside the house

The door quickly opened and Ethari was standing on the other side. His smile only grew bigger as he saw Rayla

“There ya are,” he said and Rayla beamed at him, hugging him tightly and burying her face his shoulder. Before long, they separated and Rayla had to suppress the tears from falling

Ethari finally eyed Callum, who was standing a few feet from the door

“Is this your friend, Rayla?” he asked and Rayla nodded

“Aye! Do ya remember him, right?”

“Of course” he smiled politely at Callum “It’s nice to see ya again…”

“Callum sir! It’s a pleasure to see you again, too!” Rayla had to refrain herself from commenting on how nervous Callum seemed

“Come in” Ethari said, motioning with his head to the inside of the house. Rayla saw the way Callum gulped but obliged nonetheless, Rayla trailing behind him after giving his hand a subtle squeeze, careful to not let Ethari see it

It had been months since she set foot into this house but nothing seemed to have changed. The foyer that led to the second floor of the house was still the same, although Ethari and Runaan did seem to have rearranged some of the pottery in the small area and repainted the walls.

She looked to her right and saw the dining room across the wooden arch. They had replaced the 4-person-table for a circular one that had 6 chairs around it. The vase on the center of it had a couple of _Ipomoea alba_ or _moonflowers_ in it. She remembers how her dad used to grow these in the garden of her first home and show little Rayla how they bloomed every night as soon as the sun started to set

She shook her head at the memories and decided to focus on the present. She saw how Callum was looking around the house, eyeing almost every piece of decoration with an agape mouth and definitely storing the whole place in the back of his mind to draw it as soon as he got his hands on his sketchbook. Then he would try to hide it from her and when she least expected, he would show her a carbon copy of the place

She mentally chuckled at the thought of his adorable “proud face” as he would show her his drawing. She would thank him with a kiss that could or could not turn into dozens of other kisses. She was hoping it would be the former-

“Rayla” her thoughts were interrupted by Runaan’s voice. She had arrived in the room just past the foyer, the living room and she turned to her right, finding Runaan standing with a skeptical look on his face as he crossed the archway that connected the living room to the kitchen. He had an apron tied around his torso. His eyes slowly drifted to Callum but he didn’t comment on it. Instead, he went forward and wrapped his arms around Rayla, putting his chin on top of her head “I missed ya” he said and Rayla could faintly hear his voice wavering a little

“But ya saw me at the start of the week, Runaan”

“Ya know what I mean” _she did_

They separated and finally he set his most stern gaze on the boy in his living room. Once again, she saw how Callum gulped but she could also see how he started to sweat a little. She supposed it was understandable, Runaan _was_ glaring at him like he had committed some kind of sin by entering his home

“I-It’s nice to see you again, sir.” Callum offered his hand to Runaan and Rayla saw how it was trembling a little bit. She then remembered how she had told him that Runaan never let Rayla bring any boy home when she was growing up and how he scared away any boys that might have taken a liking of her during her teenage years

Runaan although didn’t say anything and shook his hand firmly - _if she had to say something, a little more tight than usual but it could be her imagination_ \- and left without a word to finish whatever dish he was preparing in the kitchen. Callum looked stunned but confused

Calmly, she approached him and brushed their fingers together slightly and he looked at her and she smiled at him, reassuringly

“Don’t worry Callum, he’s been nervous all day” Ethari explained, only loud enough for the pair to hear “deep down, he’s worried something bad will happen when Tiadrin and Lain get here”

Rayla supposed it couldn’t be helped

She and Callum sat beside one another in the deep purple couch in the living room and Rayla had to refrain from holding Callum’s hand. She was getting nervous. Supposedly, her parents had gone out to buy some things for the dinner but they were taking more time than planned. She could feel her breathing laboring. _Did something happen to them? Did their car crash? Did they forget?_ Or rather, _did they give up on meeting her?_

She then felt a warm thing under her hand. It was Callum’s own hand. He looked around and when he felt it was safe from Runaan’s preying eyes from the kitchen, he swiftly brought the palm of her hand to his lips before kissing it. She felt her worries dissipate at the simple reassurance that he was there for her

The sound of a car parking in front of the house made Rayla’s heart pick up the raced pace and she swiftly straightened her pose and looked expectantly to the archway. A couple of minutes passed and finally the doorbell rang, making Ethari exit the kitchen to open the door, voices coming right after

_“Ya could’ve helped me and Lain take the bags from the car, ya know?”_

_“I know Tiadrin, but I was busy in the kitchen. Also, we didn’t ask ya to buy the whole supermarket, only a few things that were missin’”_ Rayla’s heart was at her throat but her parents didn’t cross the living room as she expected. She heard some steps approaching from the kitchen instead, meaning they took the path that connected the dining room to the kitchen. The sound of the frying and the pressure cooker was muffling the talk that was coming from the kitchen, which didn’t help to calm her nerves at all

Then she finally was able to hear it again

 _“Wait, is she…?”_ her dad’s voice

 _“Oh my god”_ her mom’s voice

Not a second later they appeared in the archway and Rayla’s violet eyes met her dad’s orange eyes and her mom’s turquoise ones

Rayla slowly got up from the couch and approached her parents before she hugged both, the tears she was trying to conceal, finally revealing themselves

“Rayla, look at ya my darlin’” her mom said, taking her daughter’s face into her hands and carefully wiping away the tears despite that she also had tears across her own cheeks “ya are so big now. Ya changed so much!”

“But somehow ya are still the same little girl we once saw” Rayla almost giggled at her dad’s comment and hugged them more tightly. Rayla has no idea how much time it took for her to calm down and the tears to stop streaming down her face and honestly, she didn’t care one bit

Finally, she was able to let go of both of them, her eyes red and swollen of tears

“Good evening ma’am and sir” Callum said and Rayla almost felt guilty for leaving him to cry like a baby in her parent's arms. Then she remembered she was talking about _Callum_. The most considerate person she knew

“Oh, didn’t see ya there, young man” Tiadrin said, still with her hand on Rayla’s back

“This is Callum, mom. Didn’t Ethari tell ya I was bringing someone?”

“Oh, yes. I remember now” Tiadrin said, her voice was a little hoarse from the crying but was steady nonetheless

Her dad was the first of the two to approach Callum and give him an excited handshake with a bright smile while her mom settled with a simple and formal one

Just then, she and Callum’s stomach growled in unison

“Someone is hungry” Lain commented and Rayla blushed “Will ya two help setting the table for all of us?”

Callum politely nodded as Rayla almost groaned playfully, but obliged nonetheless

-

Dinner went by smoothly. Rayla could taste her childhood by eating Runaan and Ethari’s cooking

More times than the necessary, Rayla’s hands brushed against Callum’s as they _accidentally_ went for the same dish but thankfully no one seemed to notice a thing

After a few embarrassing stories about Rayla growing up, including how she acquired her fear of water and how when she was five, she ran around the backyard of her birthday party with a knife she found. Ethari chuckled at the memory of how he was the only one who ran to get it out of her hands.

After what it felt to be an eternity, the dinner part was done and all four of her parents went upstairs to get something, leaving the pair alone for the first time since they entered the house

Rayla was looking at a few pictures near the fireplace and Callum was sitting on the couch, his mind clearly racing a mile per hour

“What are ya thinking in that pretty head of yours?” she asked with a smirk, even though she didn’t turn to look at him

“Uh?” he was pulled back from wherever he was drifting off to

“I asked what’s graspin’ your attention like that” she giggled and looked at him

“Oh,” he crossed his legs and put a hand on his chin “well, I was thinking about you”

“What a shocker” she said, rolling her eyes with a smile at how his cheeks became profusely pink at admitting that

“It’s true!” he said his voice filled with hints of laughter “I was thinking about how, now that I know all of your parents, it seems like I know _you_ better”

She turned her body completely upon hearing his words

“What do ya mean?” she raised a brow at him

“You have a part of each of them in you” he was staring into her eyes with a smile “You have Runaan’s stubbornness when it's about a thing you believe and Ethari’s kindness when it comes to others you may not even know” Rayla’s senses of _heartfelt speeches_ were tingling but she let him continue “From your biological parents, you got your dad’s sensitivity to your surroundings and other people, a side of you most people who know you don’t get to see. You got your mom’s determination and snarky humor, something that got my attention since day one”

His emerald eyes were full of emotion as he said all those things to her and she felt her chest swelling with pride and joy. She would never get tired of how he looked at her like she was the most incredible thing he’d ever seen, even though she was just a university student who seemed to be so lost in her boring routine before _he_ found _her_

With her heart on her sleeve, she approached him and traced his jaw with her index finger and she tilted his face up to look at him as she bent down to meet his lips

It was a slightly uncomfortable position for both of them, but Callum quickly wrapped his arms around her neck and brought her to sit on his lap without breaking their kiss for a moment

Rayla should’ve had more control about how they shouldn’t kiss when they were in her dad’s living room, but she soon found that she didn’t really care and Callum didn’t seem to care either

They separated to fill their lungs, but they continued to be close to each other, their foreheads touching as they struggled with their labored breathing

Then Callum gave her a kiss on her cheek before planting another one in her forehead. Her whole body got warm and she felt his acts of affection tugging her heartstrings

“Callum… I need… to tell you something…”

“What is it?”

“Callum… I…” she started, her cheeks warming “I lo-”

_“Am I interruptin’ somethin’?”_

Rayla jumped out of Callum’s lap, almost falling on the floor because he was holding her by her hips. She got a few feet of distance between her boyfriend and looked at the archway. Ethari had an amused smile on his face

“Ethari! I can explain-”

“Rayla, I’m goin’ to be frank with ya, I was waiting the whole evenin’ for you to introduce Callum as your boyfriend, but that’s not how I imagined it” he chuckled

“Wait, ya knew?” she was sure her jaw was almost dropping

“Rayla, ya must know that if you are looking through the windows of the second floor, ya can see anythin’ on the street, includin’ two lovebirds laughing as they stroll down the street and kiss each other” Rayla was speechless. She completely forgot that she and Callum kissed when they were in the field of vision of the house “Ya are lucky that it was I that spotted ya two and not Runaan” her dad chuckled

“Does… Does he know?”

“Rayla, ya’re his daughter. He knows everythin’ about ya. Even if I didn’t see ya both, I too would’ve guessed the same” Ethari confessed

“Then why didn’t he say anythin’?”

“A couple of weeks ago we had a talk. It was actually the day after we first meet ya, Callum” Ethari shot him a smile “I told him that even if ya turned out to be just a friend to Rayla, he couldn’t keep her sheltered from romantic relationships. It didn’t work when she was growing up, it wouldn’t work now. It’s was time to let her do her own decisions and if she regretted them, she would use it to become stronger” he smiled genuinely at the girl

“Ethari…” Rayla said and hugged her dad, tears damping her lashes but never really flowing out

“Are ya happy with him, Rayla?” Ethari asked, loud enough for only her to hear

“Aye, more than anythin’” she admitted and looked back at Callum

“Then I have no right to keep ya from your happiness. No one has”

“Thank you sir” Callum voiced and Rayla detected he was on the verge of crying too

“Ya’re family Callum, no more of this sir thing with me or anyone” Callum rubbed the back of his neck bashfully but smiled at him. Rayla held his hands and squeezed them both as he looked at her

For the last ten years or so, Rayla had difficulty calling whatever she had a home but now with her parents back and with the love of her life right beside her, the home she always searched, didn’t seem so far away at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I plan to make a shorter and independent chapter depicting the rest of the night after this scene, but this is something for the future.  
> The next chapter is the last one, my dudes. I’ve never come this far into fanfiction and I have so many bittersweet feelings about it ending. Don’t worry though, there’s a short epilogue that I’m very excited to write. Until then, I’ll hope to see you all later, bye!  
>  **Up next:** Found family trope is my favorite, did you know that?


	21. If my voice could reach back through the past

** Final Chapter - If my voice could reach back through the past **

“Hey” Callum said hugging Rayla

“Ya’re here early” He was. He was the first person to arrive at the gymnasium besides Rayla’s team

“This is the final game and I want to be with you all the way to the end” he said and put his hand on her back and the other went to cradle her cheek tenderly. They leaned in a tender kiss. They were immensely glad that he and Rayla were the first ones to arrive at the place. It gave them the privacy they needed so much

“I’m sorry yesterday was such a disaster” She said as they separated

“What are you talking about? Your parents were super cool with me”

“They were, but I just wanted to give them some time before springing the news on them” she sighed and pressed their foreheads together

“It’s okay, really” he smiled “One day we’ll have to tell my parents too. And Ez. And Aunt Amaya”

“Yeah, let’s just hope it won’t be that soon” she chuckled and planted a kiss on the tip of his nose

“Who is this team who you are going to go against today?”

“It’s the Flowers of Duren. Three years ago, their basketball team won against all odds of being a completely new team. Since then, they’ve been piling victory after victory”

“What makes them so special after all?”

“They’ve got two coaches and they’re both married, meaning they’re always in sync when it comes to planning the team. Their daughter is also a prodigy” Rayla explained

“A prodigy you say?”

“Yes, she’s fifteen and has excelled in dance competitions when she was eleven or something. She’s also really smart. I believe she skipped a year in school, but those are only rumors”

“Wow” Callum said in awe

“Yeah, they’re really good. Honestly, if we are to lose to someone, I’m glad it’s to them and not to those asshats from Neolandia”

“But you’re not gonna lose”

“Ya put too much faith in me” she said, the blush appearing and planting a kiss on his lips to cover her embarrassment

Before they knew, Callum was pressed against a wall as they kissed tenderly

“You like pressing me against a wall, huh?” he whispered in a low voice that made Rayla’s eyes widen for a moment before a smirk appeared on her lips, making Callum gulp, his confident façade gone as she grabbed his chin between her index and thumb

“If it makes ya look like this, pretty prince, I. Love. It.” she added with a small peck after each emphasized word before planting a longer one on his lips

Far too soon for his liking, they pulled away, her fingers still on his chin. Briefly, she caressed his lower lip with her thumb and chuckled at his shocked face

“I need to go change, but I take it ya’ll be here, right?” he didn’t say anything, simply nodded his eyes still widened “Good”

She quickly left off with a wink in his direction. He was pretty sure his jaw was hanging open. His fingers traced the aching path she left on his skin and he shivered

He needed to get his shit together before he saw her again. Hopefully, by then he will come up with a better comeback to her flirting than just gasping and startled sounds

-

Rayla straightened her hair above her head and took the hair tie out of her mouth, turning her hair into a ponytail. She looked around the bleachers and saw Callum deep in his sketchbook

 _Such a dork_ she thought and chuckled to herself before getting up from the bench and approaching her team that had started their warm-up exercises. Soren was doing some runs around the court, faster than usual

She chose a spot in the court and started her own exercises, starting with the usual: putting her legs in front of her and reaching her toes without effort. She eyed Callum and caught him on the act of looking at her while drawing. She was sure he turned redder than a tomato, so to tease him, she simply winked at him and returned to her stretching, clearly proud of how his jaw was now hanging open (again) due to her actions

She faced the rift between her legs for a few moments

Then she heard a scream

Immediately she looked up and saw Soren laying on the floor, in agony as everyone approached him to access the situation

“What the hell happened Soren?” Fylson asked as he eyed his friend on the floor

“N-Nothing I just slipped” He said and got up. He seemed to be fine. That is until he groaned loudly in pain as soon as his right foot tried to support his weight

“That looks bad Soren” Arel said as he looked at his ankle

“He must have sprained it” Callum said. Seemed like he left his seat to aid the situation

“Guys, I’m fine, I just need some ice. By the time the game starts, I’ll be back on my feet” Soren tried but no one seemed to believe his words

“Soren, I’m a nursin’ student” Lyra interrupted with a worried face “This looks like at least a mild sprain. It will take at least six weeks for the ligament to restore completely”

“Shit” the blond said as he eyed his ankle with a worried face

Everyone started talking over themselves as Lyra left to grab some ice for his ankle and Soren sat on the bench, everyone gathered around him. Rayla eyed the injury. It was starting to get really red quickly

“What are we gonna do, coach?” Fylson asked “Soren is our point guard. He’s almost like the head of the team. There’s no one to replace him”

“Actually, there is” Soren muttered and looked at the coach with a questioning face. Rayla was starting to get confused, she hadn’t even noticed Callum putting his hand around her waist in reassurance. When the coach nodded back with a small smile, Soren took a deep breath “I… Talked to the coach a few weeks ago that I would quit the team as soon as these games finished” everyone gasped

“Why?” somebody on the back asked

“I hadn’t been able to do my best in the last few games because the only thing I’ve been thinking is how I need to focus on my course. If I want to graduate at the end of this year, I need to move all my focus and strength to my studies”

“So the coach and I decided that I would exit the team as soon as we got either to the end of the games or eliminated from them, whatever came first. These games would show us who would become the point guard as I exited the team”

“And who is it?”

He smiled, fondness in his eyes as he faced his teammates

“The person we choose is Rayla” he smiled and looked directly at her

“WHAT?!” she said, her arms coming up above her head and almost hitting Callum in the face “A-Are ya serious?”

“Yes, Rayla” the coach interrupted “You’ve been the main character of the last games. I don’t know what came over you since they started, but you’ve been doing more than you’ve ever done since you entered the team a year ago”

Rayla had a clue what had changed in her life. _A certain brown-haired dork with an incredible heart_ she wanted to say but kept her mouth shut.

“So, Rayla?” Soren perked up and she looked at him “Will you do me the favor of leading the team from now on?”

She could feel the big smile on her face taking form

“Yes! Of course! It will be an honor!” she said “Thank ya, Soren. I’m sorry that the circumstances of this aren’t better”

“It’s cool” he said, but he couldn’t hide from her the pain he was feeling as he put the ice over his injury. With a serene smile, she hugged him and patted him the back, taking care to not accidentally touch his ankle

A few people stayed behind with Soren to chat and make him pass his time now that he was stuck at the bench, but Rayla and Callum decided to leave the court for a few minutes

“I will call Claudia to tell about Soren’s injury,” he said, taking his phone out of his pocket

“Thanks, Callum, ya don’t know how much I needed ya bein’ here for me”

“I’m your boyfriend, Ray,” he said, tenderly putting a strand of her hair behind her ear “It’s expected” he gave her a quick kiss and walked off to talk on his phone

Deep down, Rayla knew that even if he wasn’t her boyfriend, he would be there for her no matter what. He always did

-

The crowd was starting to gather. The game was starting in half an hour. Soren had left the bench with a pair of crutches about the same time the team left for the locker room. His attention had once again drifted to the page of his sketchbook as another drawing of Rayla came to life

His pencil stroked against the surface as her features appeared on the paper. He sighed lovingly

_“What’s with the dumb face?”_

He looked at the direction of the voice and saw Ezran at the start of the stairs that led to to the bleachers with a raised brow and a smile

“Ez?” Callum closed his sketchbook and got up from his seat. When in front of him, he gave him a hug “What are you doing here?”

“We are here to cheer on Soren. Claudia invited us”

“‘Us’?” He noticed the girl that was looking excitedly at the court. He immediately recognized her as the girl that Ezran had a crush on. The braid seemed to be a part of her style

“Hey!” she said as she noticed Callum “Nice to see you again”

“Same” Callum shook her hand “Did you two come alone to the game?”

“Of course not, Callum!” Ezran said and pointed to some people that were behind them, hidden out of his field of vision when he was sitting up on the bleacher, but now he could see clearly who they were

Sarai, Harrow, Amaya, and Janai. They were all here for the game. On cue, they all looked at him with bright smiles. Amaya rushed to bring Callum in a crushing hug

She finally let go of him when Janai patted on her shoulder, which his aunt only responded by playfully sticking her tongue out to her and releasing him

“Hello, dear” His mom said as she hugged him, Harrow joining in

“Hey mom, hey dad. Did you all come to cheer on Soren?”

“Mostly,” Sarai said “Claudia, when inviting all of us, said you were probably going to be here”

“So we are using this to also check on you, son” Harrow added and ruffled his hair

“Well, I’m here to talk to Rayla,” Ezran said “I’ve brought some physical photos of Bait that I promised her from all the days that I forgot to send her”

“So you two _are_ talking to each other every day?” He vaguely remembers Rayla asking Ezran that he needed to send her _Daily Pictures of Bait_ after they exchanged numbers on that Saturday evening

“Duh! We only talk about Bait, though” he answered and Callum sighed in relief which Ezran didn’t seem to have noticed

His family started to chat about the upcoming game and Callum seemed focuses on going back to his drawing until…

 _“Callum!”_ another voice called out from the other side. Turning away from his family, he saw Rayla’s parents, all four of them. Ethari had his hand raised with a smile. Runaan’s scowl from last night had died down and was now replaced with a serious but fond expression on his features. Lain and Tiadrin were not far behind them, both looking around the place, amused with all the banners from both teams

 _“Mind introducing us, Callum?”_ Janai translated Amaya’s signing and Callum felt nervous. He was sitting between a family that knew of their relationship and another that didn’t know a single thing. He cleared his throat

“Everyone, meet Rayla’s parents: Lain, Tiadrin, Runaan, and Ethari” the four of them waved their hands and smiled politely. Callum then turned to Rayla’s family “And this is my family: My mom and dad, Sarai and Harrow” the couple smiled, with the woman giving a slight bow at them “My brother, Ezran and his friend Ellis” his brother only smiled imitating his parents, but Ellis on the other hand, waved excitedly at them “and this is my aunt Amaya and her girlfriend Janai”

“It’s a pleasure to meet ya all” Tiadrin added

“Certainly. We meet Rayla a couple of weeks ago,” Sarai said “She’s such a nice girl. I believe you’re the ones who we have to give credit for?”

“Yes, but we can’t go on without saying the same for Callum. A real gentleman indeed” Lain said and Callum felt his cheeks burning at the compliments

“We raised him well” Harrow chuckled and ruffled Callum’s hair. The ten of them started to have their own chatter and Callum used this as an opportunity to return to his seat, his cheeks still burning

It didn’t take long for Rayla’s parents bid their goodbyes to his family and grab their own seat a little far away from them. His family sat near where he was, the chatting not ceasing for a moment until the teams finally entered the court

Callum was wondering where Claudia was during the whole time, but when Soren entered the court on crutches, he saw Claudia aiding him on the way to the bench. He was glad Soren would have company during the game

“What happened to Soren, Callum?” Ezran asked

“He was doing some runs around the court and sprained his ankle”

“Ouch”

“Yeah, Rayla is going to play in his place as the point guard”

“That’s great for her, although I didn’t want her to receive this position because Soren is injured” his brother had a concerned face

“You and me both”

The players positioned themselves around the place, Rayla meeting with the other point guard in the middle of the court. The referee came forward with the ball in their hands and at the blow of the whistle, he threw the ball in the air with the player from Duren tacking it before Rayla could

The final game had finally started it

-

The world disappeared before her. They had less than 2 minutes of the final quarter and both teams had 32 points. It was game over if Duren got the ball even near the hoop. She wouldn’t let that happen

The adrenaline was kicking in. Her heart rate was increasing more than ever. She felt all the blood pumping from it going to her muscles, her air passages to her lungs were expanding and her pupils widened as she locked her eyes with the ball a few meters in front of her in the hands of Duren's shooting guard

They spotted someone on the back and threw the ball, but someone intercepted it. Lyra grabbed the ball and quickly locked eyes with Rayla. The time slowed down for the two of them and she nodded at Rayla for a second. Rayla understood and nodded back

Lyra threw the ball to Rayla. Her instincts kicked in and she grabbed it, tapping it against the floor of the court. The only sound she heard was the sound of the ball against her hand and against the floor

She raced with it until she entered the Duren side of the court taking a deep breath, she avoided the center, who tried to jump to grab the ball, but due to the adrenaline, Rayla was able to avoid them

The last person was the power forward who launched themselves at Rayla, but she skillfully avoided them. There was no one else in her way to scoring the final point so her senses drift away from the game and she quickly took a glimpse of her parents in the bleachers. They were all standing from their seats, Runaan was hugging Ethari’s arm while her mom and dad had their hands interlocked as they smiled

Now her eyes scanned not the crowd but the bench. Soren and Claudia were leaning out of their seats and she could swear she saw him sweating even though he was only watching the game

Her heart picked up the pace as she scanned the crowd for a group of seven people sitting closely on the benches but she decided to focus on Callum and she felt her focused face turn into a loving grin as she saw the way he was smiling and screaming her name. It felt incredible to have him there cheering her on like the proud boyfriend he always said he was

She closed her eyes and made herself a promise. There was no way she was letting another day pass by without letting him know about her _love_ for him. She was going to tell him everything

Her senses shut her from the outside world again and she eyed the opponent's hoop. Taking all the strength she could, she jumped forward and dunked the ball into the hoop

The referee whistle was blown

-

Callum had no idea at the moment, but he never cheered so much in his life

He was sure his throat was going to be sore for a few hours, but for now, he didn’t care. Without ceremony, he jumped out of his seat, tossing his satchel away in the process and ran down the bleachers

Callum was running towards the entrance of the court but briefly saw Rayla’s parents doing the same with large smiles of their faces

When he finally entered the court, he processed the scene in front of him: The coach putting Rayla a gold medal around her neck and giving her a brief hug before going to the next person on the team

She took the prize around her hands and turned around with a proud smile on her face as she saw her face reflected into its surface

“Rayla!” he screamed her name and she looked up at him, smiling at him softly. He noticed the tears of joy around her bottom lashes. Their instincts kicked in and they both rushed to each other, meeting in the middle of the court

He spun her in the air, laughing and forgetting about their boundaries and the world around them

When he finally put her down, he crushed their lips together in a tender embrace

“I love you, Rayla” he admitted as they separated “I really do”

He thought he would feel more nervous when finally admitting to her what he felt, but at this moment, there was nothing he was more sure of besides the fact that this girl was the love of his life

“I love ya too, Callum” smiling at him, she looked at his lips for a moment before they kissed again. He felt his heart flutter above the clouds as they kissed. Before he met her, he was stuck to the ground, with nowhere to go, but she freed him. She gave him his _wings_

“Wait, **_WHAT?_** ”

They pulled away and looked at the source of the voice. Soren’s jaw was hanging

“You two are together for real this time?!” He asked incredulously

“Y-Yeah, sorry for not telling you bud” Callum apologized

“Congrats on conveying your feelings, Rayla” Claudia said, a smug smile on her features “You couldn’t have done it without me”

“I’ll be ignorin’ that” she said, her voice bitter but with an amused smile on her lips and Claudia snorted

“C’mon Soren, let’s give the lovebugs some space” she grabbed her brother’s arm and helped him walk his way out of the court

“Callum!” Ezran came rushing into the court a few moments later, a pout on his lips and Ellis trailing behind him but going forward to talk with a tanned girl with blond hair that was sitting in the Duren’s bench “How dare you not tell me you were dating Rayla?”

“We wanted it to be a surprise, Ez. We were planning on telling mom and dad when we got the chance”

“It seems this chance was today” she chuckled softly and Ezran let out a breath

“Promise me that when you guys get engaged, I’ll be the first one to know”

“ _EZRAN!_ ” Callum felt his cheeks reddening “It’s far too early to say that…”

“Doesn’t matter, you have to promise” he pouted and extended his pinky at him

“Fine” he extended his own “Pinky promise”

“Good, now let’s go. Mom and dad also want to congratulate you. Aunt Janai and aunt Amaya also said that”

“I’ll go over in a sec, Ez” Callum added and Ezran shrugged his shoulders

Callum turned to Rayla, whose cheeks were red too. He interlocked their fingers and pulled her flush against him, pressing their foreheads together

“Rayla?” he murmured

“Yeah?”

“I love you” he would never be able to explain why those words had such an effect on him, but they did

“I love ya too” she pressed a kiss against his lips “Forever and ever?”

_“Forever and ever”_

**The end**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is it. Thank you all for reading this thing and supporting me all the way. I come up with this story in one rainy afternoon. It was supposed to be a one-shot, then the chapter became too long and I divided in two, but seeing all your incredible support with it made me want to finish it. I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for you guys. Thank you so, so much. Every single one of you who commented, who gave me kudos, who bookmarked, you were what kept me going during these trying times of pandemic. I certainly would’ve lost my mind if it wasn’t for this. I love you all so much.  
> For the umpteenth time: _**thank you!**_  
>  (The epilogue should be out shortly, tomorrow or on Saturday)


	22. "Oh darling I wish you were here"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rather short (700 words) but I needed it for my Rayllum craving. There are some naughty references here and there, although nothing explicit, as always  
> Enjoy!

** Epilogue - "Oh darling I wish you were here" **

“Forever and ever?”

_“Forever and ever”_

* * *

**_6 months after…_ **

Callum stirred in his bed, the weight on his chest not allowing him to do much. He cracked an eye open and looked around his apartment. The sun was slowly rising across the horizon. He looked at the bags across the couch and the dirty plates with dinner from last night. Finally, his eyes traveled to Rayla, who was lying across his chest, sleeping profoundly and her hair splayed against his chest and she breathed evenly

He tried to move again but felt an ache across his back, stinging as he tried to move. He needed to get to the bathroom to take a look at it

As usual, he put his hand on her shoulder and lightly shook her

“Rayla, can you let me go please?” he whispered and she muttered something he didn’t understand

“No, it’s a Saturday. It’s a day to relax” she mumbled against his chest

“Not today, love. We need to unpack your bags so we can finally say you move in with me” she groaned “and I need to take a look on my back, it’s stinging or something” her face turned into one of confusion when he said that

“Let me see it” she proposed and rolled over from his chest as he sat and turned it to her. Her fingertips traced across it and he flinched

“It’s kinda red and full of red lines…” she gasped as the realization hit her “I might have gone… a little overboard last night” she said bashfully

“What do you… oh”

“I’m sorry, Callum” she cupped his cheek and looked at him with the eyes full of worry

“Rayla, it’s okay” he took her hand and interlaced their fingers just like last night “We were both at the moment, there’s nothing you need to apologize” she still looked like she was feeling guilty. To reassure her, he pulled her to sit across his lap, which she gasped a little but didn’t protest

She buried her face in the crook of his neck

“In anyways, I’ve paid you back” his fingers trailed up the former red, now purple, markings across her clavicle that led to her neck

“Ya better lend me your scarf now” she mumbled and he felt her skin heating up under his fingers

“As if you didn’t use it already” he chuckled and pressed a kiss to her forehead “Ready to unpack your bags now, miss?”

“No” she said sharply and snuggled further into his neck

“C’mon, after that we can have breakfast. I’m sure you’re hungry, we didn’t get to finish our meal last night”

“What are ya sayin’? I’m pretty sure we jumped straight to the dessert” Now _he_ was the one getting red

They stayed in silence for a few moments before Rayla pulled away from his neck to look at him

“Do ya wanna know why it took me so long to move in with ya?”

He nodded

“My parents, all four of them, had to sign a ton of paper, but Runaan was the most reluctant one. When I said I wanted to live with ya, I could almost see his fist clenching on his pocket”

“Honestly, I think he would put more of a fight”

“And when he was helpin’ me pack some things, he almost lectured me in like a teenager on-”

“Yeah, I think I get the picture, Ray” Callum said, his face getting progressively redder by the minute. She chuckled and planted a kiss on his lips, lifting the mood entirely

Her hands meet his’s and they pulled away from the kiss, their foreheads pressed together

“I love you, Ray, I’ll never be able to stop saying this to you” he said breathlessly

“As if I want ya to stop sayin’ that” she chuckled and pressed a kiss to his cheek “Love ya too, ya big dumb prince, there’s not a single day that I don’t” she smiled angelically at him and they met for another kiss

Their relationship was still young but they were ready to face anything that came in their way

They were going to be _okay_ , after all, they had each other. And that’s enough

* * *

_When violet eyes get brighter_   
_And heavy wings grow lighter_   
_I'll taste the sky and feel alive again_

**Vanilla Twilight** by **Owl City**

**Author's Note:**

> [Say hi to me at tumblr!](https://artfulstar.tumblr.com/)   
>  [I also have a Ko-fi!](https://www.buymeacoffee.com/zWNnqoF)


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